The Open Road
by MayaLala
Summary: Book 3. Nick drives to Chicago hoping to escape his feelings for Jess only to find she's there at every turn. Some chapters rated M. Complete. Thank you everyone for all the tremendous support, especially that you liked the ending! Thanks. **My life mixed with New Girl, a total blast to write**
1. Chapter 2

Nick was all packed. His car had food, sleeping bag and a full tank of gas. He had thrown his clothes in a duffel bag and actually cleaned his room up. He was sitting on the hood of his car saying good-bye.

"Ok, so you have my old phone fully charged?"

"Yeah Schmidt, and the charger as you know since you put it in the lighter."

"I just need to make sure you are gonna be fine out there in the open range, all covered in dust and sweat."

"Schmidt, it's a roadtrip, not a round-up."

"I just don't understand why you don't fly to your brother's wedding."

"Look man, I told you, I just want some time to myself, to think." He looked at the ground, thinking of her smile. He hoped he would not just be thinking of her the whole time. "Tell the others good-bye for me, I will text them later."

"You sure you should do that...leave without saying good-bye?"

Nick knew what he meant. He knew Jess would be hurt but he decided on a whim to drive to Chicago and thought it better for her anyway, him leaving. It had been getting weird between them and he couldn't seem to stop himself from making it worse with the long stares and excuses for dong things with her.

"Well, I think Winston will understand Schmidt" he said as he punched Schmidts arm. He was surprised Schmidt even noticed his thing with Jess.

"Well, enjoy your Darjleng Express and let me know what you need when you get jumped by bandits in Texas."

He got behind his driver's seat and headed out, highway 10, east bound.

Jess came home from school tired and wanting to change out of her clothes. The loft felt cool and she couldn't wait to zone out all weekend with Nick and the guys. She changed into pajamas and as she hung up her dress in her room and then noticed the note on her desk. It was from Nick.

Jess,

I decided to go on a road trip to Chicago. It was kind of a last minute decision. I hope you have a good couple of weeks. Schmidt gave me his phone so text me anytime.

Nick

Her heart fell out of her body. Nick left. He left and didn't say good-bye?

She sat on her bed and stared at the letter. For some reason she touched the words on the paper, wishing to understand them better. Why had he done this? She wondered if he knew this would make her sad. Was it because of all those weird moments between them lately. Probably not, she thought. But it was really random.

She grabbed her phone and texted him

_Miss you already_

Within a minute

_Me too._


	2. Chapter 3

Jess woke up feeling sad and hungry. She had fallen asleep early last night thinking about her life and what the hell she was doing thinking about Nick. She felt a bit betrayed by his decision to leave as if she should have been part of that decision. That were pretty close and it seemed like such a whim.

She was doing it again. Analyzing it all over. She was gonna need something to keep her mind off Nick being gone. She ate some breakfast and mulled it over. She wandered around the loft looking for inspiration. Ridiculously she found herself hovering near Nick's door.

Nick had slept horribly last night in the back seat at a truck stop. All night long trucks came and went with their engines running and lights flooding his car. His neck hurt and he was a little nauseous from too much coffee. He had bought some cheap sunglasses at the last gas fill up to keep his impending headache from the sunlight at bay.

And then he got her text

What are your favorite colors?

He pulled over. Immediately. He had to pee anyway but he noticed his heart was beating a bit faster when he saw her name pop up.

Why?

I just never asked you that before. What kind of friend doesn't know that kind of thing? I should know that about you.

He smiled. Red and grey.

Cool she wrote back.

I am gonna guess your favorite color is blue?

Why, cuz all my dresses are blue?

Yeah, and ur pajamas and you always draw blue flowers and there are no blue flowers so it looks weird.

Well, there should be blue flowers. The world would be better.

The sky is so blue today. Look outside.

She walked to the loft windows and gazed up at the big blue sky. Yes it was a beautiful big blue sky and the day somehow felt better all of a sudden.

Jess had stared at Nick's room for a long time smiling at his stuff all around. He had made his bed and picked up all his dirty clothes on the floor. That's when inspiration had hit her.

She walked back into her room and took out a bunch of boxes in her closet. She found what she had been looking for and began to sketch out some pictures. Oh, this was gonna be good.

Nick was feeling tired from driving all day. He had enough money to stay a few nights in hotel rooms and thought tonight would be a good night to sleep well after last night's fiasco. He stopped at a market and bought a six pack and some more sandwich stuff. He found an ugly looking hotel and realized it had Nick Miller written all over it. His room smelled a bit like cigarettes and the carpet was sooo dated but he didn't care. The bed was comfortable enough and there were no trucks around. He drained his beers fairly quickly, ate some food and settled in for some cable tv.

This was living man. It was good to be alone. Nobody to tell him what to do or eat or how much to drink. And then the funny commercial came on that Jess loved where the cat falls for the neighbor cat who is all sexy and hot cuz she eats sexy skinny food.

Nick picks up his phone and texts Jess sexy cat food

Wha?

Your stupid cat commercial is on with the sexy cat

Where are you watching tv?

In a hotel in the desert.

Sounds lonely.

It's not. It's great. I can watch what I want and eat what I want. Although I did hear your voice telling me to eat fruit earlier. It was annoying.

Jess smiled. He was thinking of her on his trip. I am glad I can still annoy you from this far away.

He smiled. She was always doing that.

So did you?

Did I do what?

Eat fruit?

Maybe.

Ooooh, tell me all about it.

Nick feeling flirty watching HBO after a six pack it was juicy and sweet and I slurped it all up.

Jess's face turned hot and her mouth dropped open. She didn't know what to say.

Sorry, that was probably too weird. I may have had a six pack.

She regained her composure after a moment and felt giddy

Sounds tasty she wrote back

It was, I wish I had more

She put the phone down as she crawled into bed. Whoa. Did he mean for that to come out so sexy she thought.

Nick smiled to himself thinking about her face with a smile on it. Hoping that didn't come off creepy but instead as kind of pervy cute. Man he needed to just get to bed. He was so tired.


	3. Chapter 4

Nick sat and ate his lunch looking out over the desert. The colors were so intense and he kept seeing a hummingbird fly to this strange looking cactus tree next to him. He wondered when the last time he had actually noticed a bird was. He never sees them on the roof at the loft.

He had driven all morning thinking of his blue eyed loft mate. They were friends, good friends but she made his stomach do flip flops sometimes. He didn't like that. He wanted to just hang out with her without noticing the cleavage from her dress or the color of her lips. It annoyed him.

He had woken up this morning in his hotel room thinking of her, showered thinking of her and spent the last four hours driving, thinking of her. Now he was off the road and thinking of her. It was ridiculous. He needed to focus more on this little hummingbird because that is what you do on road trips, right? Until he got an idea

He sat with his phone on the tree, waiting. It felt like a long time passed until the hummingbird came back. He hit the button and heard it click. He waited to see if it had worked. It had. He had take a picture of this pretty little hummingbird. He felt bold excited that his little idea had worked.

He sat back on the ground and started pressing buttons trying to figure this dumb phone out. Finally, he thought he had it. He pressed send.

Jess had been up late last night cutting pieces. Her eyes kind of stung and she rubbed her eyes looking to focus better. She grabbed her phone to check to see if she had gotten any texts. She realized she was actually looking for a text from him and then felt dumb realizing she was being needy.

She couldn't help herself though. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw his name pop up. She opened his text and it was a picture of a slightly blurry hummingbird on an orange flower.

Wow, had Nick taken that picture? It was beautiful. He was on this amazing adventure and she was laying in her bed. And he was using his phone doing fancy tricks. This was a side of Nick she hadn't seen before.

She thought about her next words carefully.

Beautiful, wish I was there.

She hoped that didn't come off too bold but clearly needed to stay busy. This trying not to think if Nick was turning her into a thinking of Nick and she was gonna make a fool of herself.

Then she heard her phone and grabbed it. It said Rick.

Hey good looking!

Hey Rick. How are you today?

Well I am peachy, how about you?

I am fine. Just got up.

Well, aren't you a late starter. We're you partying it up last night?

She winced at his words. She was far from a partier.

No, I was just up late working on a project.

Well, I was kinda hoping that tonight I could take you to dinner. Remember we had talked about it last week at work?

She remembered. Rick was new at her school and he immediately focused on Jess. At first it was flattering but she soon picked up on the fact this his trying so hard was killing any chance he had with her. She thought more about it though because she felt like she was going to slowly unravel without Nick around.

Sure, what time?

How about I meet you at Tendrils at 7:00.

Sure, that would be great. See you then.

This would give her enough time to work on her project for the afternoon and then get ready for her date. Just enough of a distraction to help her through this day trying not to think of Nick.

She checked her phone again. Nothing from Nick. She let out a sigh and gathered her things to begin the sewing phase.

Nick pulled off a tiny road and headed down in the dark to a dead end. He hadn't passed by a house in an hour or so and the desert seemed deserted around here. He turned the engine off and looked up at the sky as the sun began to set. He got out and laid on his car hood staring up.

Until his phone sang a little diddy

You still alive my compadre?

Yeah, just me out on the open range. How are you Schmidt?

I am a little sore from spin class but nothing a good workout with Cece won't take care of. Am I right?

I am glad you have that option buddy. Is Winston back?

No, I think his office gets back tomorrow from their bonding trip.

Nick didn't want to ask about Jess but he wanted Schmidt to talk about her. He knew it was bad, like an addiction.

Jess has been flitting around the loft with bags and bolts and and paper sketches. It's like Project Runway around here.

What is Project Runway?

Oh Nick. How do you live day to day?

I dunno Schmidt, I somehow get by.

She's gone now on a date so Schmitty here gets the whole place to himself. Gonna enjoy a private bathroom man sculpting session.

Nick sat there reeling from the sting of his words. Jess was on a date. He stared at his phone and then noticed she had texted him earlier. Shit, why had he not noticed that before?

Beautiful, wish I was there.

Oh my, so did he. He pictured her right now laying on the hood with him. She would babble all about the cute roadrunners they had seen earlier or argue with him about the best sandwich making materials with her probably wanting fancy sides like pickles or lettuce. And now she was on a date.

He grabbed his phone and wrote back

It is beautiful out here. I think you would love it.


	4. Chapter 5

Jess sat across from Rick and stared into his eyes as he talked and talked and talked. She had stopped listening to him awhile back. She was only smiling occasionally. She heard ferrets and his brother and nothing else. She was instead thinking about the desert and if it was cold right now. What did it smell like and feel like?

She had gotten Nick's text earlier and she longed to be with him right now, Nick and Jess across the country, dodging danger and tackling adventure. She smiled when she pictured her saying that to him knowing it would make him smile under a frown. A special face she only saw him do with her. It was as if he wanted to be annoyed with her but couldn't be.

Only a few weeks ago the two of them had gone down to the beach for a walk on a nice sunny day and Nick had gotten so annoyed with Jess for bringing a picnic in a basket he had to carry. He kept wanting to put it all in his backpack but she wouldn't let him. His arm had started hurting carrying the basket after awhile so they had sat to eat lunch.

She opened the basket and pulled out a blanket for them. He poked his head in it looking around and got that face...his face screamed why do you have all of this stuff!

He shook his head and leaned back on the blanket, closing his eyes and listening to the waves. Jess had watched him laying there, frown disappearing as he relaxed. She had brought tons of food like pasta salad and homemade cookies. She made him a plate and set it next to him. He opened his eyes and they grew in size at the plate.

"Jess, you make all of this for us today?"

"Yeah, I told you I was gonna bring us some lunch."

"Yeah, but I thought you meant like a sandwich. This is so nice." He shook his head. "You girls, so fancy." He gazed at her catching a smile on her face and waited until she looked up at him. "Thanks Jess."

She suddenly felt shy with him looking at her with that goofy smile on his face. She mumbled "your welcome" under her breath but took a deeper breath when he wasn't looking. She was aware at the time that she wanted him to be impressed with her that day, as if it had been a date.

She suddenly realized Rick was paying the bill so she took a big swig of her wine to finish it up and thanked him for dinner. She excused herself from the table and headed to the restroom. As soon as she got in there she grabbed her phone.

Where you at Miller?

She washed her hands and reapplied her lipstick.

I don't know actually. Laying under the stars though with nobody around for miles.

Is it cold?

A little. I have my sleeping bag though.

She wanted so bad to tell him she wanted to be there with him. She wanted to snuggle up in that sleeping bag with him and smell his neck and have him hold her tight.

Nick had seen two shooting stars so far and heard several weird noises coming from the bushes. It was so ridiculously dark out here. He was a little cold. He was also a little lonely.

As he started to fall asleep, his phone rang.

"Hello"

"Hi".

He took a deep breath hearing her voice. He shook the sleep from his brain so he could concentrate on what was going on.

"Hey, good to hear from you. What are you doing?"

"Well, I am on the roof looking up at the stars right now."

He smiled a huge smile realizing she was up there for him. What had happened with her date? Home so early Jess.

"I thought you had plans tonight?"

"What do you mean" she said quickly wondering how he had heard. Schmidt came to mind.

"Well, I was texting with Schmidt earlier as he was man sculpting, which is a whole other conversation and he had mentioned you had a date."

"Oh. Yeah. A guy from work. Casual thing though. Just dinner." She was so nervous now. She didn't want Nick to think she was interested in this guy. But maybe he should think that. No, she didn't think Nick would like Rick and he would just be awful to him If they ever met.

"How did it go?" He asked hoping to sound casual.

"Um, it was ok, kind of just ok."

"Sorry to hear that." No he wasn't

"Yeah, I was just trying to stay busy."

"Jess, you went out with a guy to stay busy? Poor schmuck."

She giggled a bit realizing how stupid that sounded. She relaxed knowing Nick wasn't gonna ask her more about it. She laughingly said "I seem to have a lot of free time the last few days and he caught me at an opportune time."

"Oh, did you lose your boyfriend without the rewards and now don't have anyone to drag shopping with you. Am I being replaced already?" He said in jest.

"Well, a girl can get lonely" she replied back quickly.

There was a long pause. He took a deep breath "I know how that feels". He took a deep breath and the words hung on the phone line. He wanted to tell her that he wished she was there but couldn't muster the guts to do it. This was already treading on dangerous territory.

"Jess, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"You warm there."

"I am always a little cold Nick, you know that."

He pictured wrapping his arms around her right now. Her leaning into him to share in his warmth.

"Well, get a blanket. I am in my sleeping bag."

"Me too Nick. I brought my sleeping bag up to the roof to sleep up here under the stars."

"You are kidding me!" She was so cute. My god, what friend does that. It must mean something. He would have to think about it more tomorrow.

They started talking about stars they saw in the sky and sharing stories of being kids camping. He told her about when they went camping as kids and it rained for hours and hours and it began to flood their tent. Nick had gone outside and built a trench around them and saved the day. She joked that is was training for his future as a plumbers apprentice.

She told him about camping as kids in Girl Scouts and making fires to earn her badges. He smiled picturing her in a green Girl Scout uniform with her pigtails and glasses. They talked for hours about everything and sometimes, every now and again, they would get sleepy and the other would wake them up.

Finally his battery started dying on his phone.

"Jess, I think I have to go, my phone is dying and I cannot charge it without running the engine."

"Ok Nick, I was getting really sleepy anyway."

"Thanks for tonight Jess. That was fun." He didn't know how to end it. He wanted to talk to her all night. He felt like he was in high school.

"Yes, it was Miller."

They both smiled through the pause between them.

"Sweet dreams" Nick whispered to her.

"Thanks Nick, you too" she whispered back.

Neither one of them hanging up first. Finally his phone died and he smiled as he took a deep breath. Yep, he might have fallen for Jess somewhere along the way. And it felt good. He closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile in his face.


	5. Chapter 6

Nick pulled into Austin in the late afternoon. He had organized to meet up with his friend from college who had been living there for awhile and was working as a bartender. He got lost a few times in town but his new gps system Schmidt had taught him how to use on his phone was really helping out.

He pulled into the parking lot of the bar and checked his hair in the rear view mirror. He was in desperate need of a shower and clean clothes but he was here and it was the best he could do.

The bar was dark and smoky. He was glad you couldn't smoke in California bars anymore because it changed the whole atmosphere. His eyes adjusted to the light as he scanned behind the counter.

Melissa turned and saw Nick, shrieking she put up her arms and came running over to him. They hugged while patrons turned to see what all the fuss was about.

"Nicky, so glad you are here!"

Melissa was now a redhead which suited her loud voice and infectious laugh. He had forgotten how loud she was. In college she was the life of the party that always ended up awake late at night with just Nick, nursing the last of the beers.

"Hey Missy, good to see ya."

"Come on, lets get you a drink!"

They sat at the bar for awhile talking about his trip thus far through the desert. The sunsets and stars, the quiet solitude. She laughed that Nick had become so much more serious in his old age. She informed him that she was having a party at her house that night to celebrate his arrival in the grand state of Texas. He was glad he had slept well last night because from the looks of it, tonight was going to be a late one.

She handed him her key as well as directions to her apartment. He was glad to have some time alone before others arrived.

Her apartment was neat and chick with posters and photos of Missy at concerts and camping trips. He immediately showered and washed all his clothes, sitting in the living room in his boxers waiting for them to dry.

He picked up his phone

Hey lady, what are you up to?

I am working on a project but I think I am gonna be blind if I don't stop for a bit. Did you sleep good last night?

He smiled remembering their marathon conversation. She suddenly felt really far away.

Yeah, how about you? Did you stay warm on the roof?

I was a little cold. I probably wouldn't do it again alone.

Maybe your date from last night could keep you warm next time.

Maybe, except he is driving to Chicago right now. Oh crap, what had she gotten herself into now.

Haha, she was hilarious. Jess being all flirty. What a schmuck. Who would leave you behind to get cold he wrote. His heart racing as their flirtation grew. His smile big and toothy.

Some guy that left me behind to go see the country!

So, was that a date last night?

Yes, it was, he paid for dinner so it was.

That isn't what I meant.

I know what you meant.

So was it?

What do you think?

She had him there. Dang, he suddenly didn't know what to write.

I think it needs to be continued.

Alright. You know how to find me.

Jess set her phone down. She stared at the yards of fabric around her. She laid down on all of it and closed her eyes. What are her and Nick doing? She pictured him leaning against his doorjamb. His hair slightly disheveled, his face unshaven. Her body grew hot thinking about how he looked. She would do anything to transport herself to anywhere he was right now.

Nick took his clean cloths out and packed his bag back up. He dressed and looked around the kitchen for some food. He settled on some crackers and a beer and waited for Missy to return. He needed to pace himself tonight. Missy was a wild one and he didn't want to get out of control.

Jess woke after a slightly crazy night wrestling with her five foot beast. She gave up after awhile and reminisced about Nick and Jess trips to the park or for coffee. She analyzed whether he was looking at her for longer than the other guys. It kept her awake for hours. Finally she fell asleep and now felt almost hungover.

Her phone had five texts from Nick.

Jess you are u and I am me!

Around around I go, when you need me, I am hearrrre.

Where are you! Are you with that guy again?

This is Missy.

She is my other girlfriend. Hahahaha.

Jess saw the picture of Melissa. She didn't like her. Not one bit.

She wondered if she should respond.

Since it was the next day she figured he was grumpy, hungover and maybe even laying in this redheads bed right now.

Hope it was worth it Miller she wrote back.

Nick woke up hazy, confused. Oh god his head. He was in a bed, naked, next to Missy. Damnit! He remembered last night as a really fun night of college type drinking games and lots of screaming from Missy and her other friends. What had he done though.

He slowly got out of her bed and got dressed. He went to the bathroom looking for aspirin and soon found it. The water made him feel kind of sick so he went to the kitchen to look for something to help his stomach. The place was trashed and there was a guy asleep on the couch.

He heard his phone text and immediately scanned the place looking for it amongst popcorn and tortilla chips, red Dixie cups and beer bottles. He found it under a tank top and turned it over to see it was Jess. Instantly nervous and feeling horribly guilty, he read it.

What had he done. He tried in agony to see what he had sent her. He did have a vague recollection of texting her last night. How did you open these texts. Crap. He sat down and rubbed his face. "Come on Miller, get it together." He looked back down at the screen and opened up what he had sent her. "Oh gawd."

He covered his eyes with his hand and re read their texts from before the party. His heart sank remembering her leaving that door open for them to have more phone dates.

He didn't know what to do. He wasn't good at this part. Then Missy walked into the room wearing a silk robe, the kind you get in Chinatown. She looked weathered he noticed. Haggard he might say.

"Good morning" he chimed.

"Really" she cocked her head at him.

He shrugged trying to feel what her anger was about. "Um, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Nick" she said quickly. "I am sorry, just really tired, that's all."

He sat in silence thinking about Jess and what he was gonna say back. He put his phone in his pocket and looked back up at Missy.

"Did she text back?"

"What?"

"Jess, did she text you back?"

"Ugh, I am sorry, confused and hung here. What are you talking about?"

"The girl you wouldn't shut up about last night. You were texting her. You and I in bed. You stopped and told me it was because there was this girl, Jess. Any bells being rung?"

Well now that you mention it. "I didn't know the details. Thanks for the update."

"So did she text you back?"

"Yeah, she doesn't seem pleased."

"Do you two have an agreement?"

"No, we are just friends actually."

"But you want to be more?"

"I don't know."

"I think you do know Nicky. You are just scared."

He stared at his feet and closed his eyes picturing Jess in the kitchen at the loft making breakfast. Her head titled slightly, smiling at him with just her eyes. He took a deep breath "I think you are right."


	6. Chapter 7

Jess spent most of the day with her phone off. She didn't want to be tempted to check for Nick texts. She organized herself to meet Cece for lunch to distract her and Rick had asked her for another date that evening. Although she wasn't that excited about it, she said yes anyway. She knew she was leading him on but who knows, maybe tonight would be different.

Her lunch with Cece covered the basic topics such as Schmidt and sex so Jess threw in Rick just to have something to add to the conversation.

"Why don't you spill Jess. You are sitting over there with puppy eyes like somebody got mud on your dress."

"It's nothing Cece. Just a little loft squabble."

"You mean Nick squabble?"

"Not exactly Cece. OK, exactly like that. Well more like texts in poor taste than a squabble."

"Did he send you a picture of his junk or something?"

Jess laughed at that one. "no, nothing like that. Just a picture of a girl he called his girlfriend."

"Oh, I get it, you are jealous."

"Well, that is a very strong word, jealous. I am annoyed he sent me five drunk texts that were barely coherent and a picture of some girl."

"Let me see a picture of this girl."

Jess had to turn her phone back on to find the photo. It rebooted and she heard the texts coming thru.

_call me when you can talk_

Her heart skipped a beat and she took in her breath. Cece saw her friend's reaction and grabbed her phone. She read the texts and smiled. "Wow, you guys are getting flirty."

Jess smiled to herself.

"That woman is ugly Jess. She looks rode hard and put away wet."

Jess knew Cece meant well but it still hurt to even look at this Missy girl.

"Cece why did he send it to me?"

"There are only two reasons. One he wanted to make you jealous or two, he wanted you to see you aren't getting to him."

"I really don't know what to say to him. He wants me to call him."

"Then be busy Jess. Don't you already have a date tonight. You are gonna be alright. Nick probably feels bad because that man cares about you. He does. It is so obvious when he looks at you or touches your shoulder."

"Then I don't know why he would want to make me jealous because that hurts."

"We hurt the ones we love."

Nick spent the day cleaning up Missy's apartment after she left. He showered one last time and packed up his stuff. He wrote her a lame letter thanking her for the party and shuttered at how stupid he was. Damnit Miller, he shook his head again.

Back on the road he turned NE towards Chicago but felt overwhelmed by the hangover and dark cloud over his heart. The fact that Jess hadn't called him back was not a good sign. She was obviously pissed. He rubbed his eyes and dug into his driving hoping to get out of Texas before he stopped for sleep.

Jess tried her hardest to enjoy her time with Rick. She had even gotten ready like a proper date by shaving her legs and trying on 20 dresses settling on a blue one with frills. Nick was right, she did wear a lot of blue. She picked up her phone to text him and then slipped it back in her purse remembering last night. Rick had picked her up at the loft wearing khakis and a button down. He was ok looking. Nothing to squeek about. Schmidt seemed to like him probably cuz they had similar hair, crunchy and full of product.

Rick was talking about his new car again. She tried to act really interested but once again found herself wandering off thinking about Nick's hands making cocktails. She so wanted to be at his bar with him instead of here.

"jess, jess"

"Yes, Nick, I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"It's Rick." He said snidely.

"Oh, so sorry, yes, I am sorry, I just have a lot my mind tonight."

"Well maybe I can help."

"No, I don't think so. I am ready to go though."

Surprised he fumbled with his wallet and looked around for the waitress.

Jess took out her phone she had turned off before avoiding Nick. She turned it back on anxiously waiting for the text she was hoping to find and there it was.

_jess, please call me tonight._

She smiled. Just knowing he had thought of her made her instantly smile more. Then she remembered Missy and her smile vanished.

_on a date tonight, will call you tomorrow._

It actually hurt her to send it a little.

It hurt Nick a little to receive it. Sitting in his hotel room in Oklahoma, he felt like the loneliest boy in the world. His eyes actually began to sting and he felt himself kind of tighten up. He had to do something. But what could he do from here.

His body hurt from sitting in the car so he got dressed again, grabbed his room key and headed out for a walk.

He really didn't know where he was. Some small town nowhere. He walked the neighborhoods watching families sit in their yards talking to neighbors. It felt nice actually.

He walked by a house where a woman was cutting roses from her front yard and making a bouquet. Nick smiled at her "evening".

She looked at him closely and reached out to him "I'm sorry but could I bother you for a minute?"

Nick took his hands out of his pockets and cautiously said "sure".

"Well I have some fertilizer in my garage for these flowers but I cannot reach it. Could you help me?"

Nick followed her to her detached garage. It was neat and clean with tools hanging on pegs and everything in boxes on shelves. "You have a vEry respectable garage."

"Thanks, my husband spent a lot of time in here. He died last year so now it is up to me to tend to the garden alone."

Nick could hear her voice crack a bit. He reached for the rose fertilizer and carried it back outside for her. He immediately began doing as he was told putting the pellets around the bush.

The woman smiled a him "you aren't from here, are you, Chicago?"

"yes, I am"

"What are you doing here?"

"Actually I am just passing through. I needed to take a walk cuz I have been driving all day."

he looked at her vase filled with flowers "nice looking roses."

"Oh, do you like roses?"

He smiled at her. She seemed sweet but also savvy. "Not necessarily but I can appreciate their beauty."

"Yes, they are very sensual. This one is actually my favorite" she said as she pointed to a giant white flower with a blue tinge to it. "It's called Blue Beauty. Can you see the blue in it? Very rare that rose is. My husbahad ordered it from Germany for our anniversary."

Nick smiled "would you mind if I took a picture?"

"Of course not. Be my guest."

Nick took his phone out and snapped a few different shots of the Blue Beauty. He smiled to himself as he put his phone away. His eyes crinkling as he took a deep breath.

"Ah, she is a lucky girl."

"Who" Nick answered stupidly. She saw right threw him.

He turned to walk away and she yelled thank you after him. He smiled all the way back to his room.

Rick had walked her back to the loft door. He lingered hoping she would give a sign they should kiss but she instead crossed her arms. It was awkward and she needed to make sure that was the end of it before she was gonna have to avoid him at work.

She changed out of her clothes and for the millionth time wished she had a bathtub. She laid on her bed. It was too early to go to bed but she needed something to do. She grabbed a blanket and her phone and headed to the roof again to look at stars. She felt very lonely tonight.

She settled into a chair anhe checked her messages.

from Rick

_I had a wonderful night._

__Ugh, she thought.

From Cece

_How was your date? Did he kiss you?_

She didn't want to text either back. She wanted to look up at the stars and think about her cute loft mate.

Her phone lit up.

_A Blue Beauty for a true Beauty._

There she stared at a beautiful picture of a blue rose. Well, it looked blue. Jess smiled. Like as big as you can smile. Like her whole heart filled with a smile and she might even have squeeled a bit.

_I am sorry about last night. I was drunk and kind of showing off. _

_Please call me as I really want to hear your voice. _

Jess's heart swooned like a middle school girl. Like a craZy tween.

She dialed his number with shaky fingers.


	7. Chapter 8

"Hello" he answered as quickly as he could upon seeing it was Jess. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV off and put his beer on the side table.

"Hi". She suddenly felt shy and vulnerable. Why hadn't she waited a bit longer.

"Hi back" he said pausing afterwards to cover up his huge grin.

"Um, thank you for the photo of the rose. Was that real?"

"of course it was real. I saw it tonight. It's called a Blue Beauty. Comes from Germany."

"Well, I have never seen anything like it before."

"yeah, me either. I am glad you liked it" He paused. He had to get this right. "Hey Jess."

"yeah"

"I am sorry about last night and those stupid texts. it was kind of a wild night in Austin."

"Looked that way."

He cringed from embarrassment.

"Yeah, I was visiting an old college buddy and she had a party for me. It got a little wild playing drinking games from the old days."

She tried to picture Nick with these buddies yelling "chug chug chug."

She cautiously said "was Missy your friend you stayed with?"

"Ugh yes, we were friends in college. Just friends though."

Jess relaxed a bit more upon hearinG that. "Oh, I thought you were telling me she was your new girlfriend."

"No, no, nothing like that." Thank goodness he hadn't had sex with Missy or this conversation may have been a lot different. "I think I was trying to say she was a friend and a girl, like you. I was just being stupid. I am sorry."

Jess didn't know what to say now. Nick usually didn't talk like this. He rarely apologized let alone tell her why he was being stupid. She was smiling and clutching her phone very tightly. She sighed heavily and Nick heard.

"What's up?"

"You seem different." She squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart was beating so fast right now.

"I do, how so?"

"I don't know exactly. Just more...open. Maybe it is just me though. I miss you around here. The loft just isn't the same."

"Yeah, I keep wanting to tell you things I see or do and instead I am alone. You feel so far away."

She sucked in her breath hearing that. He sounded sad. "You OK Nick?"

"I am now" he said.

He asked about Winston because he had been texting him for the last few days. Jess told him about how the station had some major shake up and were reorganizing the Company. Winston was down there 24/7 making sure he came out with an actual job. He had only come twice this week to shower and change his clothes.

"So when do you get to Chicago?"

"It looks like tomorrow afternoon. I am not that far now."

"You aren't gonna do something rash Nick like move back to Chicago or something are you? Because that is something I would have a lot to say about."

"Oh really, and what would you say to me, hypothetically" he blurted out playfully.

"Well, I would point out how much nicer LA is then Chicago because we have sunshine and an ocean. No more beach picnics."

He remembered their recent walk in the sand when he had carried a 50 lb. basket with bows on it so that Jess could have utensils with lunch. Although once he saw what she had brough to eat, he instantly was happy about the job.

"Obviously your best friends."

"Yeah, I am not going anywhere Jess. This was just me getting away for a bit, clearing my head."

"It just seemed like such a spontaneous decision. I just wanna make sure you are gonna come back because I just, well, ya know."

"Yeah, I know" He smiled knowing she really missed him. "I almost forgot to ask about your date?"

"Not much to tell you. He talked, I listened, he walked me to the door."

"Did he kiss you?" He asked heart pounding.

"Ewww Nick. No way."

"So you got another free meal from a poor shmuck that you are using to fill up your time while I am gone."

Hmmm, she thought, he had kind of nailed it. "Yes, pretty much" she laughed.

"Good, but that's all he can be is a place holder that buys you meals, k? Nothing more."

"Why Nick, are you a bit jealous?"

He chuckled "Yes, pretty much."

"Nick, get some sleep. You have a big weekend coming up."

He yawned "yeah, I know. If you see Winston, remind him to call me because I don't know if I am supposed to be picking him up at the airport and if so tomorrow or Saturday."

"Will do Nick. Good night."

"Night Jessica."

She held her phone to her chest while she looked up at the sky. She missed her Nick Miller. This guy she could chat with so easily.

She texted him one last thing before he fell asleep.

_stars._

He instantly answered back

_Stars. _

Nick pulled up in front of his childhood home. He turned the car off and sat in it for a bit. Wow, that had been quite an adventure. He felt exhausted but also excited. He wasn't sure why he felt excited but it felt like his life might be looking up somehow. He pictured her blue eyes for the millionth time since LA. He remembered one of the first times they went out for coffee together. She was telling him a story about a boy in her class that would collect his boogers in one certain place on his desk. The way she had said boogers was adorable because she would whisper it like it was a bad word. He shook his head and reminded himself he was in Chicago now. No more daydreaming about Jessica Day for hours and hours a day.

He walked to the front door and pushed it in. His Mom's house was filled with familiar faces. They chimed in unison "Nicky". He made the rounds saying hellos and ended up in the kitchen with his Mom. She looked like she had been cooking all day. There were dirty bowls piling up in the sink and dishes with foil over them.

"Mom, what can I do to help?"

"You need to go down to Harvey's and get your tux fitted for tomorrow. Take your brother. He is driving everyone crazy."

"You got it Mom."

He grabbed his little brother mid sentence, by the elbow, and dragged him out to his car. Nick knew if his brother was nervous then he was telling stupid stories to everyone and acting like a 14 year old. They arrived at the tux shop and went in the back door. Harvey was their Uncle and he was sitting behind a desk in the back of the store.

"Nicky my boy" Harvey said as he reached over and kissed Nicky's cheek. "You are home."

"Hey Harvey. I am. I came to get my monkey suit for tomorrow."

"Of course you are, of course. Follow me Nicky."

His brother sat in a seat near the desk and started reading a comic book he found.

Harvey measured Nick and began setting out shoes and ties on a table.

"You get to pick out your tie and shoes."

Nick looked and there was a bow tie, skinny tie and regular tie, all black. There were shiny shoes, suede and leather ones. He didn't know what to pick.

He took out his phone and snapped a picture

_can you help me pick a tie and shoes out for the wedding?_

_Are you gonna be wearing a tux Miller? _

_Yeah, I am in the wedding._

__She sucked in her breath picturing Nick in a tux. She whistled out loud.

_can you take a closer photo of the shoes?_

Nick moved the shoes closer together and snapped another photo. Uncle Harvey walked in with his suit and stopped in his tracks when he saw Nick with his phone taking a picture.

"Nick, you OK?"

"Yeah, just getting some advice."

Harvey shook his head. Kid moves out west and comes back not knowing how to pick out shoes.

_I would go with the fatter tie and leather shoes. I want a photo of you tomorrow._

_You got it doll, thanks._

__Jess was running around the loft doing laundry and cleaning her room. Winston had been home earlier and made a mess in the kitchen. She didn't have time so she left it for Schmidt to clean up.

_you still up?_

_yes Nick, it's 10:00 here._

_oh yeah, I forgot. Just got back from the rehearsal dinner. Lots of drunk Millers making toasts. Kind of epic. _

_did you make one?_

_no, I have to tomorrow though._

_do you know what you are gonna say.._

_of course no Jess, have you met me?_

_well, speak from the heart and everyone will be impressed_

_easier said then done_

_yeah, sometimes it is_


	8. Chapter 9

Nick woke late in the morning feeling like he was in a fog. He had slept hard and for way too long. He could hear everyone mulling about outside his door. When he came out there were people everywhere in various levels of dress. He headed to the bathroom to take a shower. It was a mess with towels strew about and jars of stuff he didn't know what. He slowly woke up in the lukewarm shower. He just needed to get dressed and get some grub.

His Mom was in the hallway wearing a blue robe and all made up for the wedding.

"Nicky, good, you are up. I need you to go over to the church and make sure everything is taken care of."

"OK, like what?"

"I don't know. I would just feel better if you were there taking care of stuff."

"Alright Mom, just gonna get dressed and get some food."

She grabbed Nick and hugged him. Her eyes welled up with tears. "Thank you son. I always feel better when you are here."

She kissed his cheek and kept walking down the hallway.

The church was decorated with balloons and flowers when he arrived. There were women carrying boxes in and putting cloths on tables all around him. He didn't really know what to do. He sat down and took his phone out.

_hey man, where you at?_

_Nick, will be there soon. Gonna be a bit of a surprise though. _

_This isn't gonna be like a prank you're pulling Winston, is it?_

_no man, no prank, just a surprise._

The church was filling up with people. Nick was looking for his brother and Mom, scanning the crowd.

**And that's when he saw her.** She was walking up the church stairs..in a blue dress. Jess was there, in Chicago. She had come to see him.

He felt his body break into a panic sweat and he temporarily lost his breath. She was stunning. Absolutely stunning in a strapless light blue shiny dress. Her hair was curly and pulled to one side.

She saw Nick staring at her from inside the church. She saw his giant smile and felt instantly more comfortable. He was walking towards her as she got to the top of the steps.

Nick grabbed her around the waist pulling her into a hug where he actually picked her up off the ground.

"Jess" He pulled back and stared at her keeping hold of her hands. "Wow, Jess, I don't know what to say."

"Winston couldn't make it so he sent me instead. Surprise" she Said searching his eyes for confirmation this was gonna be Ok.

"So that is what he meant this morning when he said he was sending a surprise." Nick knew his face was gonna break soon from smiling but he felt so ridiculously giddy right now.

"Yep, he came home yesterday and we hatched this plan so I had to get my act together fairly quick to get here in time."

He leaned closer to her and kind of whispered "you look fantastic."

She took a deep breath and smiled up at him "ya know I flew all the way here to see you in this amazing suit you are wearing. Nick Miller in a tux, didn't believe it." She opened the jacket up and patted his tie on his chest.

Nick instinctually grabbed the top of his tie to straighten it hoping he looked his best right now. "Do I cut it, can you be seen with me."

"I think you look mighty fine." She blushed at her forwardness. This was ridiculous. Everything she said sounded like she was flirting with him. What happened. He was gonna start teasing her soon if she didn't stop.

They stared at each other smiling. Things had changed since LA. It was there between them. They both sensed it.

"Lets see if we can find a drink before this thing starts."

"Great idea, show me the way."

He put his hand on her lower back and guided her through the crowd and went inside the church.

The ceremony was short and sweet and afterwards there were photos. Jess sat in a pew watching Nick play off his family. He was obviously close to his Mom. There were cousins and Aunts and Uncles all yelling at each other and laughing. They seemed like a nice albeit messed up family.

Nick kept an eye on Jess. He watched her every move as she hovered around the edges of the church looking at the decorations. Their eyes would meet and Nick would smile and stare down at the floor. She was literally the most beautiful woman at the wedding and she had come to see him.

When photos were done she got up to wait for Nick. She actually didn't know where they were going next. He hurried over to her. "I can take you to the reception...just give me a minute to see if anyone else needs a ride."

Nick's Mom walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. "Nicky, can you drive me over to the hall?" She smiled towards Jess and looked back to Nick.

"Sure Mom, of course. Mom this is Jess, one of my roommates in LA."

"Hi Jess, thank you for coming all this way for Nick."

"yes, nice to meet you Mrs. Miller. Thank you for including me."

Nick pointed towards his car and the women filed out of the church to head to the reception. His Mom noticed every detail of Nick opening Jess's door, Nick smiling at Jess in the rearview mirror. He was hooked on her and from all the blushing that pale girl was doing, she seemed pretty hooked on him as well.

The guests had a blast at the reception. All ages danced and sat together in small groups talking about the old days. At every turn people asked Nick who he was with that night. Was she his girlfriend, was she available? Nick would just smile and search the crowd til he found her dancing with his Uncle Harvey or talking to his Nana. He would saddle up to her when she was alone, putting his hand around her waste or squeezing her shoulder asking if she was having fun.

His whole family danced the cha cha cha together, the chicken dance, laughing at their stupidity the whole time. Nick would spin the little girls around or dip his Mom back as she giggled at him.

Jess loved Nick's family, they were so hilarious talking about Nick when he was a kid roaming the streets on his bike with Winston. Nick would pretend to be embarrassed and then add stories he had of his cousins breaking windows playing baseball or getting caught kissing girls behind trees. Jess would squeeze his hand when he sat next to her or lean back on him when he stood behind her.

As the night wore on, more slow songs began to play. Finally filled with a ton of liquid courage, Jess approached Nick.

"Nick, I think I have actually danced with every Miller in this room except one." She smiled up at him, eyes twinkling mischieviously.

"Yeah, who's that, my grandpa" he smiled back.

She punched him in the stomach and he grabbed her hand before it retreated. He held it tightly as he moved his body closer to her. "Would you dance with me?"

She merely shrugged casually and said "I guess so, if I have to."

He pushed her gently towards the dance floor chuckling flirtatiously until they were in the middle. He put a hand on her hip and took her other hand to his chest. They stared at each other as they began to dance.

Jess was surprised Nick could dance. Actually she was surprised by a lot of things today. Surprised to see how sweet he was with his family, how concerned he was that she have a good time. He was relaxed and not trying as hard to watch everything he said. He didn't seem as angry as he sometimes seemed back in LA.

Nick held Jess tight and stared into those blue eyes he had thought about a million times over the last week. She was smiling at him, eyelids relaxed from champagne. He pulled her tighter to his body, wrapping his arm around her back. She turned her head and rested it on his chest. Her hair smelled so good and she felt perfect in his arms.

"Whenever you want to go, lemme know."

"No, I don't want this night to end. This has been such a fun day."

"You mean it Jess. You had fun listening to all of those embarrassing stories about me?"

"Everybody was a kid once and everybody has funny stories Nick."

"True." He pulled her back so he could see her face "thanks for being my surprise date."

"Oh, this wasn't a date Miller. You gotta ask a girl for that."

He smiled at drunk Jess being all flirty. "Got it Jess, not a date."

They said their good-byes and walked outside of the reception hall. The cool air sobered them a bit. He instinctively took off his jacket and wrapped it around Jess's bare shoulders. She kept looking up at him smiling.

"I realize now that I have no idea if you have luggage or anything. Is it at the church?"

"No silly, it's in my hotel room. Winston got a free room through the radio station and it is right down the street from here. I stopped there earlier to get dressed after the flight."

"Oh, perfect, I will walk you down there."

Jess thought she had sobered up from the fresh air until she attempted to walk down the street. Nick seeing she was struggling walking a fairly straight line, put his arm around her waist and guided her. She leaned into him and closed her eyes for a moment, trusting his arm around her.

Her hotel room already had clothes all over it from her changing earlier. She headed to the bathroom and got some water.

Nick stood at the door staring in not knowing what to do.

"Alright Jess, I am gonna head home."

She stopped drinking and put her glass down. "Why aren't you staying with me?"

Nick instantly looked scared and nervous and she realized it sounded as if she meant sex.

"I mean, you have been drinking, like a lot and should not be driving. Stay here and we can sleep it off. I have aspirin and water and a big comfy bed."

He chuckled as he walked in. Sleep did sound good and anymore time with Jess is always good. He took off his tie and shoes and unbuttoned his shirt. Jess had grabbed some clothes from her bag and headed into the bathroom.

She came out wearing the shortest red shorts he had ever seen and a white tank top. What the hell! "Where are your pajamas?"

"These are pajamas!" She whimpered.

"No they are not. They look like something a girl wears rollerskating in a rap video."

"ooooh, she turns her butt to him and shakes her hips in a circle."

"Jess, please don't do that to me. That is cruel."

"What, shake my body around?" She laughed out loud at how stupid she was being. Drunk Jess was showing her ugly head. She crawled up on the bed and immediately put her head on his chest as if that was a common everyday thing between them. She knew it was because they had been drinking and the road trip and that well, it was different.

As she felt herself kinda shiver, she remembered his gift. She hopped up off the bed and ran to her suitcase.

"I made you something Nick, while you were gone."

Nick looked over at Jess bending over her suitcase, eyes darting over her body. He took a deep breath "what did you do Jess?" He pictured a coyote lamp shade or a horrible sweater she had knit.

Jess stood up and turned around with a fairly large package in her hand. She brought it back to the bed and handed it to Nick.

He didn't know what to say but tear into it. When the box was opened he took it out and unfolded it. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jess had made him a red and grey flannel quilt. One that fit his bed at home. It was soft and had patterns of different reds throughout. He was actually shocked.

"I don't understand why you did this?"

"Because I wanted to. I was bored when you were gone and kind of going crazy. It kept me busy late at night so I wouldn't over text you."

Nick smiled. He had been worried of doing the same exact thing himself.

"This is so nice of you Jess. I cannot believe you made me something so, so um".

"Not Jess like?"

"Yeah, something like that."

She took the quilt and turned it over to the plain side made of dark blue flannel. It was only then he could see the quilting pattern in it of stars. There were tons and tons of stars sewn in with thread. She pointed to the corner and he saw a very curly capital J."

He sat with the quilt in his hands for awhile not knowing what to say. He was trying to figure out what he had done at home to make her spend this amount of time on a gift for him.

"Jess, I don't know what to say, it is incredible. It must have taken you every hour this week when you weren't on your dates." He looked in her eyes and winked.

"yeah, well, you did me a favor. It was fun for me and my sewing machine got a workout."

She laid backdown on the bed feeling the tiredness from the red eye flight and wedding kicking in. Nick took the blanket and covered himself and her up. He put his body behind her, spooning her. His arm around her stomach and tucked in under her skin. She moved her hair out of his face and he scooted his mouth closer to her neck. She could feel his breath on it and her body tingled from its warmth.

They both fell asleep after a few minutes where both thought about their time at the wedding and how good it felt to not sleep alone.


	9. Chapter 10

Jess woke first. Her head hurt and her tongue was practially stuck to the roof of her mouth. He eyelashes were even kinda glued together. Her body ached in places only dances like the polka can hurt.

Nick's arm was around her shoulder and she easily slid out from under it. He was snoring. As she eased onto the floor she realized how bad her feet hurt as well. She had worn heels because they looked the best with that dress but after about eight hours on her feet dancing and standing, they felt like bruised apples.

She turned to look at Nick sleeping. His face was so relaxed right now. His forehead seemed smoother and his mouth so soft looking.

As quietly as she could, Jess found her aspirin and drank a lot of water with it. This was gonna be a tough day. She looked in the mirror and took her make-up removal wipes to task on her eyes. Should have done this last night you drunk fool. She swished some toothpaste in her mouth and adjusted her tank top to quite frankly, accentuate her cleavage. Then she crawled back in bed with Miller.

His arm was around her shoulders when he began to wake more and he put it back on her waist and pulled her tightly against his body half hugging her and half stretching. He yawned loudly and snuggled his face into the crook of her neck.

Nick took a big deep breath smelling all of Jess. He didn't know why but her smell alone made him a bit crazy. He chuckled a bit and squeezed her tight.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nature" he said as he got up to use the restroom. She could hear him peeing like a camel in there and worried he coukd have burst his bladder. He took some aspirin as well and drank more water. She could even hear him using her toothpaste which made her grin that he cared.

He opened the bathroom door with a huge smile on his face as he divebombed the bed next to her. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his chest. She curled into him and closed her eyes so as never to forget.

"I don't know about you but I am famished."

"I am nauseous" Jess said.

"You need food woman. It will take the pain away."

"What has gotten into you this morning Nick. Aren't you hungover?"

"Actually I didn't drink that much last night. Maybe only a couple of drinks."

"So not Nick like."

"Yeah, it just didn't feel right. Come on, get dressed, lets go eat.

The hotel served a pretty amazing free continental breakfast. They both loaded up on sausage and eggs, pancakes and fruit. Nick pushed orange juice on Jess instead of coffee and made her eat everything on her plate. They rehashed the wedding and all the funny things that happened. Occasionally Nick would fees Jess from his plate as if they always did that.

When they were done they were bloated and laughing at the fact they were not gonna be able to waddle back upstairs. Jess hadn't worn shoes down because her feet hurt so bad. As they made their way back to the elevator, Nick leaned down "Jess, climb on. You are so pathetic right now. I just cannot take it anymore."

Jess jumped on his back with surprising strength and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was so happy to not be walking on her bruised and swollen feet. Nick was still wearing his tux shirt and pants from the night before and it smelled like champagne and smoke and sweat.

In her room they fell onto the bed and Jess turned the tv on. She didn't care what was on as long as it didn't require her to move.

"Jess, when does your flight leave?"

She didn't move her head from the tv but answered "tomorrow sometime. Winston got the room for two nights because he was gonna see his family today and tomorrow. I thought I could see some of Chicago today but quite honestly, I feel like death right now and have no desire to leave this tv clicker all day."

Nick sat and bit his bottom lip.

"OK, well, I have to go catch up with my family and change my clothes obviously. Why don't you stay here and nap and nurse that champagne hangover you got going. I feel a little guilty about that because I knew better than to let you drink that stuff all night. I guess I was just hoping to get you rip roaring drunk and take advantage of you."

Jess turned her head towards Nick and slapped him on the arm smiling.

"You did get me rip roaring drunk Miller and if my foggy memory serves me right, no taking advantage of occurred."

"You weren't that drunk."

"I was drunk enough" she said, not looking up from the tv.

"Really?"

She Smiled big so he could see.

They both sat in silence pretending to watch the infomercial on fat melting but really letting that idea linger a bit longer.

Nick cleared his throat "Well, I need to get going and help with clean-up probably. How about I come by at dinner time and take you out to a real Chicago eatery?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect. I need a nap and some digesting after breakfast."

She turned to look at him closer. They smiled shyly being so close together on the bed.

"Thanks for yesterday. It was a really great wedding. I am so glad I came." She leaned over slowly looking into his eyes and kissed his cheek gently and slowly. She had no idea what possessed her to do it but as she pulled away, he turned his head just a bit so her lips brushed along his face a bit longer running dangerously close to his lips.

Nick's heart raced as she leaned into him. To have her lips so close to him, to smell her body so close to his. His breath quickened and his heart raced. As she pulled away he leaned into her more wanting to take her in his arms and spend the day showing her what he thought about the whole drive to Chicago.

She slowly pulled away and their eyes locked together. He reached up to her face and touched her chin. "It was a great day I will not soon forget."

With that he got up, grabbed his clothes and left the room with a quick wink and smile.

As the door shut she fell back on the bed and smiled up to the ceiling as big as her face could stretch. "Whoa" she said aloud as she touched her cheek. "Whoa".


	10. Chapter 11

_Cece, call me when you can talk. I have so much to tell you!_

_I can't talk today as I am on a weird set where everything has to be completely quiet for the photographer who plays this weird flute music. what's up? How's Chicago?_

_Well I don't know how Chicago is because I haven't left my hotel room. _

_Oooh, does that mean you have company in the room?_

_No, Nick left awhile ago._

_oooooh, serious juicy tidbit. nick spent the night. How was it?_

_Platonic._

_Oh, sorry. Were you hoping for something more._

_I don't know what I was hoping for really. We had so much fun at the wedding. Nick was like some other guy I have never met before._

_How so? _

_He was kinda suave. Like he took care of me all night. He danced with me and got me food. He was funny around his family, cute with his cousins. I dunno. Strange._

_Maybe you just never saw him like that before._

_Maybe. Then this morning he was like a kid jumping on the bed and carrying me on his back._

_Nick? Grumpy Nick my back always hurts was carrying you around?_

_That's what I mean. He is different in Chicago. _

_So, whatcha gonna do now?_

_We are going out to dinner tonight._

_Like a date?_

_No, like he is gonna take me to have some Chicago food._

_Oh, so like a date._

_Funny._

_What are you gonna wear? _

_I brought a dress. _

_Um Jess, does it have bows or ribbons?_

_Maybe, why?_

_Maybe you could try being a little different in Chicago too. :)_

Jess knew what Cece meant. She meant it was time to show Nick she meant business. Jess was gonna have to go shopping today. With her new found goal and the giant breakfast in her gut, she felt energized to get up and out of this room.

Nick spent most of the day cleaning up the hall with his cousins and then his Mom's house as well. People came and went all day picking up clothes and bags of what nots. Nick's job was to return all of the tuxedos to Uncle Harvey by 5. His plan was to go from there to Jess's hotel directly aferwards.

_How was the wedding?_

_It was really fun. I wish you could have been here. There were so many people you knew._

_Yeah, I am sorry I missed it. I assume my surprise arrived._

_Yes, she did. Nice surprise. She was a better date then you would have been anyway. As in she looks better in a dress than you do._

_She was really excited to go. It seemed like a good move. I was hoping it would be Ok with you. _

_Yes, it was more than OK. _

_What does that mean?_

_It means what it means man._

_Hey Nick, where did you sleep last night._

_See you back in LA Winston. _

_Take care of Jess on that roadtrip Nick. She's never been on one before._

_What? Jess is coming back with me?_

_ohhhh, my bad. Gotta run. _

_Winston, what do you mean?_

Nick gathered up all the suits and loaded them into his car to get them out of the way. He showered and shaved and packed up his own stuff. He kept thinking about Jess driving back with him. Could he be with her for that long without blowing what they had going right now?

_Hey, how fancy are we going tonight?_

Nick smiled just at her name on his screen.

_How fancy do you want to go?_

_Well, I don't know. Maybe something that doesn't require heels but you have to wear that suit again?_

_You just cannot get enough of me in the suits, can you?_

_Well now that I know it is going to your head, how about we just have a jeans and flannel kind of night?_

_No, no, no. I have plans to tease you with my fancy tie and dashing smile._

_I just pictured a cheshire cat in a tux. Kinda trippy._

_I am picking you up at 6:00. _

_OK. Sounds good. You got a horse drawn carriage right?_

_I see you are feeling better. Of course I got a carriage. It is filled to the rim with bottles of champagne actually._

_Do you have plans for all that champagne?_

_Maybe. _

_Then you had better be wearing a suit._

Nick sat smiling like a fool in his car again. Anybody driving by would think he was a schmuck. He just didn't care today.

Jess had the dress clerk take her picture.

_What do you think? Too much?_

_Oh...my...god. Jess, you look hot as hell. Yes! I think I have a lady boner. Good luck although now I think you won't need it. Buy the bra too!_

Jess bought her new clothes and headed back to the hotel. She had gotten shoes as well, small heels that felt really comfortable and some cute earrings. She had just enough time to get back and shower and shave. She felt like she was going to prom or something. Her stomach was doing somersaults right now.

Nick arrived at Uncle Harvey's before five. He walked in the back door as he had his whole life carrying bags of dirty suits.

"Nicky!"

"Hey Harvey. How's it going today?"

"Pretty good son. Helluva wedding yesterday. It seemed like everyone had a good time."

"Yeah, it did. It was a really fun day."

"How did your girl like it?"

"Jess, yeah, she's not my girl, she's my roommate."

"OK Nicky, whatever you say. But, you just don't have anyone fooled. You watched her all night long."

Nick looked at the ground trying to hide a goofy grin. "Harvey, I need a suit tonight. Do you think you could loan me one?"

"Sure, sure. Where you headed?"

"Centenals for dinner."

Harvey whistled loud and shook his head. "Is blue eyes gonna be there?"

Nick trying his hardedt to look annoyed with Harvey "yeah, she is gonna be there."

"I have just the suit for you. Hang on." Harvey came back in a few minutes with a tan suit and white button down. Nick took it to the dressing room to try it on.

"What time you picking her up?"

"6:00. I don't know about this Harvey. You think a tan suit is good for dinner?"

"Yep, with a black tie, she won't be able go keep her hands off you."

Nick smiled at that thought. Jess attacking him when he arrived at her hotel room. He emerged from the room hoping for the best. Harvey came up to him with a tie and put it on him. Nick could have done it himself but his hands were beginning to shake.

"Nicky, I got just the thing for you." Harvey walked back over to his desk and brought back two glasses and a bottle of whiskey.

Nick looked in the mirror and adjusted his tie and belt. What was happening? He was starting to get overly nervous. No, he wanted cool calm Miller back from this morning. Where did he go?

Harvey poured both of them two fingers in the tumblers. Nick took his and threw it back with one gulp. Harvey smiled at him.

"This dame means something to you, doesn't she?"

"I guess so. Yeah, she does. The wedding was a lot of fun. It is good for us to be out of LA and away from our lives there."

"You know Nicky, I met my wife during the war, god rest her soul. Us soldiers were scared and finding a woman to hold you at night and get you through those nightmares, well, every man deserves such a thing. Including you Nick."

Nick knew what he meant. He smiled at Harvey knowingly. "Thanks. For everything."

He got up to leave and Harvey took out his wallet. He pulled out a $50 and handed it to Nick.

"Harvey I should be paying you! I am fine. I have money for dinner Harvey. I'm a grown up for christ's sake."

"Nick, stop at Amelia's. Get her some roses, red. Set the tone for the evening."

Nick let out a deep breath. Flowers. "I don't know. I am not sure she would like that."

"No running tonight Nick. It is time to stand up."

He begrudgingly took the money and headed out the back door to his car.

Jess paced in her room back and forth.

_I don't know about this dress Cece. I mean I cannot even wear underwear it is so tight. _

_Good. That's exactly why you wear a dress like that. Did you buy the bra as well?_

_Yeah, they look huge. I could lose a student in there!_

_Relax Jess. Do you have a mini bar in your room?_

_Yeah._

_Find some wine. Drink it slow. _

_OK, thanks. Wish me luck._

_You are not gonna need luck tonight. _

Nick drove around looking for a parking spot. He wished he had spent some time cleaning out his car from the road trip. He was so awful at this stuff. He threw everything from the front to the back once he was parked. He grabbed the flowers and headed up to her room.


	11. Chapter 12

Jess opened her door to find this man, her roommate Nick, her grumpy sometimes sloppy bum of a roommate standing there looking finer than fine and holding a bouquet of roses. She was absolutely stunned and all words left her mouth and body.

When she opened the door he about dropped his jaw with his tongue hanging out like in the cartoons. He had never ever seen her like this. She was wearing a skin tight wraparound dress that hugged every single part of her body. The front showed some cleavage and it was so form fitting he could see her hip bones and the way her stomach dipped down. He immediately felt the tugging down below his belt and the fear of that becoming noticeble forced him to speak

"Wow" he said while practically sputtering for air. "You look soooo good." He feared that came out super pervy but he was hanging on by a thread right now and it was all he could muster.

"Thank you Nick." She stood there wondering what to do next. She felt suddenly very naked and vulnerable. She swallowed hard as he handed over the flowers. She smiled deeply, blushing as she looked down at the scarlet roses. She couldn't remember any guy ever bringing her flowers on a date, let alone roses.

She turned to find some water for them. She had an ice bucket in her room and filled it with water in the sink as she arranged the flowers in it. Looking over towards Nick she saw him watching her with such longing in his eyes that it made her quiver all the way to her thighs.

She took one of the roses out and broke off the stem with her fingernails. She walked back to Nick and put it in his lapel. He smelled so good it unnerved her and she avoided his eyes knowing that if she looked at him right now she might just try to take this suit off instead of trying to go out in public with it.

Nick was in serious trouble right now and he knew it. She had knocked what little bit of swagger he had built up for himself right out the door. This was Jess. His Jess. The same girl that named their toilet seat and used sprinkles quite regularly when baking. She was the hottest girl he had ever gone out with. Ever. He had no idea how to maneuver tonight but if he didn't figure something out now, this night was gonna be horrible.

As she finished putting the flower in his lapel, she pulled back to see her handywork. She looked up at him to see if he was going to balk at wearing a flower on his suit jacket but when she looked into his eyes what she saw was such desire, such passion that her breathing instantly became heavy.

Nick took her arm and pulled her closer. Their faces were almost touching. "Jess" he said with nothing more. He looked into her eyes and reached up and touched her cheek and then right below her lips. Her body tingled from the sensation. She felt her knees become somewhat weak. Nick even looked different in Chicago with those sexy eyes and big shoulders. She looked at his soft lips as he slowly bent down to touch her lips with his.

It was like someone had lit a match. They were instantly hungry for each other. She moaned as he opened her mouth with his tongue. He moaned as her hand reached around his neck pulling her body up against his chest. They kissed with such ferociousness their teeth clashed and she actually bit his lip.

Jess had lost all sense of what she was doing. Her mind remembered a date and dinner and flowers. Wait, she was on a date. No, no, Nick didn't get to do this to her before they had even left the room. She wants the date part she screamed internally. Her hands pulled down from his neck to his chest and she gently pushed him backwards.

Their lips were like pulling two magnets apart. Eventually they both came up for air and paused a bit before opening their eyes. They were both breathing as if they had been running.

"Miller, what was that all about?"

"I don't know. Sorry. I just cannot, I just saw you and hell, this is ridiculous. You cannot look like that tonight. I cannot take you out wearing that dress because honestly, I will not handle it well, obviously."

Jess smiled. She had never really caused a guy to lose it from being sexy. This must be what happens to Cece all the time. She also just realized that he was a very good kisser.

Nick's face was flushed and his hands were still holding tightly onto her hips. He had just kissed Jess like an animal. This was not setting the right tone for the evening. He closed his eyes tightly and shook his head. "I'm sorry Jess. That was very inappropriate. Ahhh, how ridiculous Miller. Jess, I promise I will not do that again tonight. I can do this" he muttered more to himself than her. Turning to her sink, he splashed some cold water on his face.

Jess was a bit shaky as well. Taking a deep breath she walked across the room to her wine and drank down the last of it. She grabbed her lipstick and reapplied it at the dresser mirror. He was watching her now and standing near the door, looking anxious. Turning towards him "you can definitely fill out a suit nicely" she said and then beamed the biggest smile she could muster. She had shaved half of her body for this date tonight and she was taking this dress out for a spin.

In the car ride they joked about a crazy guy walking down the street wearing a helmet made of foil. They were convinced he was the brother of another helmet wearer in LA they saw regularly but his was made of fur and horns.

At a red light, Nick looked over at Jess and stared pretty deeply into her face. He didn't care about hiding it from anyone. It was just the two of them now and he had already made a fool of himself in her room when he acted like a teenaged boy hopped up on hormones. He hoped the presence of other humans at the restaurant would clamp his horndog attitude from earlier. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard. She looked so good he just couldn't believe it was the cute Jess from home.

The restaurant was fancier than Jess had thought Nick would take her to. Table cloths and candles, a grand piano in the bar. "Whoa Nick, this place is beautiful." Instantly she was relieved she had bought a different dress as this place was for grown ups.

He was holding her hand since the car and he squeezed it a bit and led her inside.

The hostess had put them on the list and said it would be a bit of a wait but they could wait in the bar if they wanted to.

"Let me show you around" Nick said to Jess. He brought her through the bar to a balcony outside that she then realized overlooked the water. There were boats decorated with lights going up and down the river and people having cocktails at tables lit with candles.

"Oh, this is so pretty. I didn't realize we were on the river."

"Yeah, it's a nice place. My family has been coming here for special occasions my whole life."

Jess looked up at him and smiled "so this is a special occasion?"

He chuckled as he looked down at the ground and then turned his head back to her. He simply smiled and said nothing.

"What can I get you two this evening" the waitress asked approaching from behind.

Nick turned around to face her and ordered himself a whiskey then looked at Jess for reassurance as he ordered her a glass of wine. The waitress scurried off and they had the whole balcony to themselves.

Jess shivered a bit as the sun disappeared for the evening. Nick shook his head to himself wondering where all of Jess's cardigans were now.

"You are always cold" he said more to himself than anything.

"I know."

He opened up his suit jacket towards her "come here" he said as she put her arms around his waist and he wrapped her into his jacket. He instantly was enraptured by her smells and the way her small body felt next to him.

Nick's body was so warm she thought she would melt away. She stared out at the water with her head on his chest and couldn't believe they were here together, like this. She didn't think this would ever happen back home. Schmidt and Winston would get involved and Nick would start to question himself. She had never seen him so open and showing so much affection. She wanted to remember this.

The waitress came back with the drinks and set them on the railing. They pulled apart and before she left, Jess pulled out her phone..."excuse me, could you take our photo?"

"Sure, no problem."

Nick put his arm around Jess and she leaned in close to his face. The waitress took a few photos and handed the camera back to her.

Jess immediately looked at the photos and found the one that captured them both the best. She showed it to Nick with a smile.

"Would you send that to me?"

"Of course" she said as she put her phone back in her purse and picked up her wine.

Nick clinked her glass of wine with his cocktail "salud" he said outloud for good measure. He saw people from the bar watching them through the windows. Let them look he thought.

She took a sip of her drink tasting its acidity. The balcony lights turned on then, draped around to set the tone for romance. They both turned back towards the water and Nick put his arm around her waist. She was higher than a kite. This was turning out to be the best date she had ever been on.

They walked along the promenade on the river after dinner watching the boats go up and down. They had a nice dinner that Jess tried very hard to pay half of. Nick had insisted it was his job as the current poor schmuck to cover the check. She knew he was teasing her and she also knew that the sexual tension was getting ridiculous between the two of them as they had flirted their way through most of dinner.

They stopped near a bridge to watch some fire dancers performing for tips. Nick had his hand on the back of her neck and was massaging it casually. He had given her his coat when they had come outside and she had loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top button.

"So your flight leaves tomorrow?"

"Yeah, it does" as she looked at her feet and shuffled them around.

"You must have taken tomorrow off from work then?"

"Actually I took the whole week off. I realized I had a lot of sick time saved up and decided to get strep throat for the week."

Nick smiled picturing her faking an illness on the phone knowing she would go over the top with a fake doctor in the background or pre-recorded coughing noises.

"So what do you have planned for the week then Jess?"

"Nothing actually. This trip came up and I didn't really think much but just packed my bags and jumped on the plane."

He paused a bit and looked up into the night sky. Ask her you idiot. He was scared to ask her but why. They were doing so good right now. They were so comfortable. Ugh, he hated this internal battle. If he didn't ask her, he would kick himself for 2,000 miles.

"Jess, I have to be back to work next weekend. It is a three day drive but we could drag it out to five and stop and see some things along the way if you would like."

"Are you asking me to drive back to LA with you Nick?"

"Yeah, I guess I am. I mean if you would want to that is. If not, I totally get it. That is a lot of time together and you probably have better things to do. I mean just say no, it's fine. I can just see you when I get back."

"I have never been on a roadtrip before Nick but have always wanted to. The open road, the dusty drive, bloodshot eyes and flat tires."

He chuckled at her idea of a good time. "Let's not hope for flat tires."

"Yeah, I would love to Nick. Where will we stay? Hotels, camping, what?"

"Lets not plan it. We can just take it day by day. Kinda like this thing right here" as he pointed between the two of them. "Day by day Jess."

Her heart flipped in excitement. Five days with Nick Miller driving across country after two of the best days of her life. "I am really excited."

"Good, me too." He leaned over to her and kissed her on the top of her head.

They drove back to the hotel after much discussion about their roadtrip and then realizing they should probably get a good night's sleep. Jess was giddy about tomorrow and couldn't wait to pack up her bag.

He walked her to the elevator and as they rode up in it the mood changed much more seriously. He was holding her hand again and she could feel their sweaty palms together. Nick was staring at the floor more and she couldn't stop wondering what was gonna happen next. What did she want to happen next?

The moment Nick had been worried about all night was fast approaching. He knew it would be best to be a gentleman but after a whole evening of watching other men stare at Jess and knowing she was holding his hand made him even more of a crazed horndog.

She pulled out her key to open the door and he decided exactly what he was gonna do right there. He pulled her hand away from the door and turned her body to face his.

"I will pick you up at 9:00 in the morning. We can eat breakfast here and then head out."

She felt a bit confused when she realized he was leaving. "OK."

He was now standing there frozen in place. She looked hurt and he certainly didn't want that but he knew that if he went in her hotel room then he was gonnna want to do dirty dirty things with Jess and that might just make the roadtrip from hell if he scared her.

She looked in his eyes and whispered "why are you not coming in?"

"I cannot. Not tonight. It's only our second date Jess."

Now it was her turn to chuckle. "So, the wedding and now tonight...those are our two dates?" She smiled to herself.

"They felt like dates." He locked eyes with her now. His breathing began to get deeper. He could see her chest flush under his gaze. He looked at her body up and down and didn't try to hide it as he met her eyes again. "Tonight was...perfect actually. Every part of it was perfect."

He leaned down and brushed her lips with his. He felt her take a breath in as he pushed his mouth down firmer on hers. His hands reached around her waist as he pulled her as tightly as he could up against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she turned her head and opened her mouth longingly. His hands curled into her sides as he flicked his tongue in her mouth. She stepped back up against her door and he followed her leaning into her body harder than he had planned. The match had been lit again and the two of them could not stop themselves. His mouth wanted to consume her and her hips thrust against his body. He had to pull apart or they would end up in her room.

Nick slowed the kiss down. He pulled their lips apart a bit and opened his eyes to see her face. She was trying to calm her breathing down. He leaned down and kissed her again, gently, softly. He released his grip on her body and pulled away.

"Good night Jess. I will see you in the morning."


	12. Chapter 13

_hey there, how was the date?_

_Whoa, it was the best date of my life. Oh wait, sending you a photo._

_Oh sweety, you two look so good. Nick looks hot._

_I know, he did. He brought me roses._

_You are kidding? I cannot remember the last time a guy brought me roses._

_Yeah, I thought it was pretty sweet. We went to this really nice restaurant and he was so sweet again, taking care of me and letting me wear his coat when I was cold._

_Jess, he has kind of always done that. Haven't you noticed?_

_I guess maybe I haven't. Um, I think I am driving back to LA with him._

_Roadtrip? Sounds fun._

_We will be back next weekend. _

_Did you sleep with him?_

_No, he kissed me good night and left. Well, he kissed me like KISSED me then said good night. I don't know Cece, this is feeling like nothing I have ever experienced._

_From the looks of that picture, you two don't look like anything I have ever seen before either. Have a great time. Let me know where you are headed._

_K. Wish me luck._

Nick cleaned out his car when he got to his Mom's house. He even went so far as to get out the vaccuum and Armor All. By the time he was done, it looked exactly like the same car but now you could see the ripped seats and stained carpet better. He hoped it made it all the way home. He checked the oil and added a bit more and touched the hood like he was petting a cat.

Jess woke up early in the morning excited to get going. She was showered, dressed and packed by 8:30 and sat in her room watching TV. Nick knocked at 9:00 sharp and she lunged for the door and opened it entirely too fast.

"Hi. I am all ready to go Nick."

He looked nervous. Where was the suave guy she had seen last night? He walked in her room and saw her bag so he picked it up.

"I'll take this down to the car."

"Um, hi Nick."

His face softened a bit and he smiled at her. "Hi Jess."

They ate breakfast silently as the awkwardness had returned from LA. She couldn't think of a way to make it better. He seemed grumpy and it scared her. The last two days had been the best of her life and she didn't want to go backwards.

Once they had settled in the car he reached over and pulled out a map book of the U.S.

"Here, you pick the route."

"What?"

"You figure out how to get us to LA."

"Nick, I have never done this before. I don't know what direction to go in."

He shook his head somewhat condescendingly and opened the book to a U.S. map.

"Jess, we are here. We need to get here. Which way shall we go?"

"Nick, what is the matter with you? You were so nice last night and weren't talking to me like I was a child."

Nick looked through his front window. He was being rough with her but only because he didn't know how to act now. They weren't on a date anymore and he didn't know if he was going to be able to be with her for five whole days without her hating him by the end.

"Jess, I'm scared. I don't know how to act with you after the last two days."

"What do you mean? Act nice. Act like you have been. I like that guy a lot more than this one. He was relaxed and funny. Where did he go?"

He smiled while he stared at his keys in his hands. He didn't know where that guy went either. This guy she was talking to right now was and is more like LA Nick, nervous grumpy LA Nick.

She reached over and held his hand for a moment. He looked up into her big blue eyes and she smiled at him.

"Remember me? The foxy lady you couldn't stop touching last night?" she grinned mischieviously.

"Yeah, I remember her. She was pretty hot from what I remember."

"Same girl Nick, just now she's wearing jeans and a t-shirt."

"I know Jess. I know you're the same woman from last night. She made me nervous and you do to."

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Stop over thinking this Nick."

"I'm not, I mean, I am. Lets go. I am ready."

"Good, now also quit acting like a snot and help me figure out how to get to LA from here. Can we go to Yellowstone because I would really like to see a buffalo."

He chuckled at Jess in the wilds with moose and wolves. Smiling while their eyes were locked together, he started the car. "Let's roll"

It was dark when they finally pulled over to a small motel in a small town Nebraska.

"I'll go check us in."

"OK, I am gonna go back to that store over there and find us some food. Anything in particular that you want?"

"No, I'm good."

They had agreed that she would pay for the hotels and he would pay for the gas and food. To him it was a good deal because he would have had to pay for gas and food anyway. His tax return check was more than gonna get him back to LA.

In the store he grabbed a small styrofoam cooler and a bag of ice. He bought beer and bread, cheese, cashews, some cupcakes and fruit for Jess. As he was standing in line he saw Poprocks and for some crazy reason grabbed some and threw them in his cart.

Jess opened their room and immediately turned on the heater. It was like icicles inside. There was no bathtub but it said cable tv. The remote didn't appear to work so she sat on the bed and pushed the buttons until she found an old movie.

Nick walked in the room with their suitcases and noticed Jess was wrapped in a blanket and looking tired.

"Hey good looking, you look like you need some food and sleep."

She shrugged. She was suddenly so tired she couldn't seem to do anything. She had done nothing all day but sit in her seat and stare at rolling hills of corn and wheat, little small towns and highway billboards advertising developments and lots for sale.

Nick made her a cheese sandwich and peeled an orange for her. He laid it out on the lid to the cooler and opened a beer for her. "Jess, eat something. You haven't eaten all day."

She half heartedly ate her food and watched as Betty Davis ripped another man's heart out.

Nick ate quickly and then showered and put on his sweats. He was a little worn out and he had meant to shave but he left his razor at his Mom's house. Jess had changed while he was in the shower and was now curled up under his flannel blanket wearing her sinful pajamas from the other night. He took a deep breath hoping he could handle this close proximity to her.

Jess felt better after eating and smiled at Nick when he came out of the shower. He was wearing a black tshirt he looked ridiculously good in. He grabbed something out of the food bag and threw it at her on the bed.

"I got you something."

She saw the poprocks and jumped up on her knees in excitement.

"Nick, these are awesome. I haven't seen these since I was a kid! Do you remember Bottle Caps and Hubba Bubba? Oh my god, these are the best. What flavor do you want? Strawberry or orange."

"Those are for you Jess. Nick doesn't do Pop Rocks."

She pushed out her bottom lip in a pout and made the saddest eyes she could. She poured some in her mouth and waited until they were popping then opened her mouth and said "Nick Miller is a grumpous." Then she laughed and half choked on the sizzling candy in her mouth.

Nick laughed and laid down on the bed while she opened and closed her mouth singing songs. She took the packet of candy and made her way towards his face.

"No way Jess, don't bring those near me."

He started to move backwards towards the headboard but she was faster and held him down by straddling his body and pinning his arms down. She knew he was much stronger than her but he played along like she was really forcing him.

"Open"

"No"

"Open now."

"Will not" he smiled back at her. He pretended to push her back so he could get off the bed but with Jess on top of him in her tiny shorts and almost see through tank top, he wasn't going nowhere.

She leaned over to his ear so that he had a perfect view down her tank and whispered in his ear "Nick, open now"

She pulled back to look in his face and he slowly opened his mouth. She poured the Pop Rocks in and dumped the rest of the bag into her own mouth. She held his hands down while the crackling started in both their mouths. Nick giggled as his tongue began sizzling and she laughed while she pretended to be a robot opening and closing her mouth.

Then their eyes for some reason locked in on each other. His hands being held above his head suddenly moved quickly to her hips and he sat upright to meet her mouth as she leaned down into him. They opened their mouths and swished the popping rocks around with their tongues while he touched her back and moved his hands up her ribcage.

She suddenly jerked in his hands and pulled her arms down to her sides giggling.

"Oh, ticklish are we."

"Yes, I am and she rolled off."

"Where exactly is Jess ticklish." He moved his hands back to her ribs and began tickling her savagely while she shrieked and jerked around in his hands laughing until her eyes watered. "No, no, no, stop Nick, oh god, stop."

"OK, I will stop but I will not forget."

She looked up at his face now as he laid on his side looking down at her. She reached up to his scruff "promise?"

"Promise."

He reached down adjusting himself in his sweats. The chemistry between them from the weekend was back. She felt empowered now knowing how to get it back whenever she wanted. She breathed deeply and smiled. Ah, the power of a woman she thought.


	13. Chapter 14

Nick sat in the hotel office drinking coffee and staring out the window to the parking lot. He had woken up quite early this morning needing to stretch his legs and think things through a bit. Jess had been in his arms when he woke up with him having no recollection of how she got there. He noticed his hands and arms are always reaching out for her day or night. She never seems to mind though so he just kinda keeps doing it.

He had walked around town watching the businesses open up slowly and people move around walking or jogging. The air was cool but the sun came up over the fields promising some heat this afternoon. His head cleared as he walked but his heart felt heavy.

He was beginning to worry about LA and their lives there. What would it be like when they returned? Would he take her out on a date? What did all of this mean? They were out of their hub so it was like they were living in a fantasy world.

He rubbed his face with his hand and thought he should return to the room so Jess wouldn't worry when she woke up.

She was still laying in bed when he came back in the room. Her hair was over her face and her arms hugging a pillow.

"Hey, you left me cold this morning."

"Sorry, I needed to stretch my legs. Good morning beautiful. You slept a long time."

She smiled. He had just called her beautiful. "Yeah, I guess I was more tired than I thought."

"Hey the office has fresh coffee if you want me to go get some for you."

"No, I'll go down there myself. Thanks."

Nick had cleaned up their room and packed their bags. Jess was still in the office so he sauntered over to get her moving. They had a long drive ahead of them today and they needed to get on the road.

Jess was in the office talking to a woman when he entered. She had a cat in her arms and was scratching its head when she turned and smiled up at him.

"Hey Nick, this is Marlene and her cat Mabel. Marlene was just telling me about these dinosaurs we gotta see on the way out of town. I want to stop there."

Nick simpy smiled over at Marlene and the cat "Jess we probably need to get going then."

"OK, well thanks Marlene for the advice and I hope it all goes well with Bob. I'll be thinking of him."

"You too Jess, hope everything goes well with your adventure as well."

Jess smiled back at Marlene as she put the cat down and walked out of the office with Nick to the car. She noticed he opened her car door for her and waited for her to get in before he shut it again. Maybe Chicago Nick can come all the way back to LA with them.

The dinosaurs were giant welded rusty dinosaurs about twenty feet tall. They were strewn all about in a field with a walking path amongst them explaining how the artist had moved here with his family after losing his job and began these sculptures. Jess took a million pictures on her phone and kept commenting on how happy it must have made him to do something for other people.

Nick hated them. They were stupid big pieces of rust.

As they walked back to the car in the parking lot, Jess turned to head into the gift shop. Nooooo, Nick thought. Woman get in the car he wanted to yell but instead managed to put his hands in his pockets and lean against the car waiting for her to come out. He wished he had a beer and a chair while he waited.

Back on the road Jess brought out a bag and pulled out a miniature dinosaur resembling the ones in the meadow.

"You're kidding me, you bought one of those?"

"What, you don't like it?"

"A metal dinosaur representing one man's pathetic life. What's there to like?"

She put it on the dash of the car as she leaned back in her seat. "Everybody needs something that makes them happy Nick. His was just really big."

They had been driving for ages and his ass was getting tired of sitting. They were close to Yellowstone now and had been driving in the mountains for a few hours. He needed to pull over but hadn't seen anywhere good for quite awhile. The sign promised a gas station up ahead and he planned to stop even though they didn't need gas.

It was a worn down place with an old fashioned pump you had to hope landed on the right price if you were short on cash. Inside was a small store.

Nick and Jess got out of the car and he filled it up with gas just because they were already stopped. Jess went in to find a bathroom and came out with a hubcap attached to a chain and a key. She giggled walking over to him to show him the keychain. They joked that they should get one just like this for Winston who was always looking for his keys.

Nick pumped the gas and looked around. They were in the Rockies now and it was cooler here surrounded by trees. Suddenly he saw Jess come running around the corner of the building and straight towards him.

"What's up pal?"

"Um, please don't laugh at me but that bathroom is um, missing a door."

"Jess, I am not going in a bathroom with you."

"I know but could you just stand next to the bathroom perhaps?"

"Sure. Hang on."

He walked back around the building and peeked inside. It was horrible he had to admit. It was filthy with garbage on the floor and it was damp from a leaky roof or someone perhaps attempting to wash the place. The walls had scribbling all over them of obscene images and there was no door on the toilet or bathroom itself.

He turned back around and smiled at her "what's your problem city girl, that is a very respectable bathroom."

She rolled her eyes at him and cautiously walked in. He could hear her peeing and whistled out loud so she could hear he was still outside waiting. He stopped whistling and he heard her say "Nick, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here you scaredy cat."

Jess came out of the bathroom and walked dangerously close to Nick's mouth as she grazed her fingernails along his stomach "piece of cake, pal" she said breathily as she walked by.

Nick looked at the ground after taking a deep breath and whistled loudly for her to hear. She looked back over her shoulder smiling as she turned the corner. She was gonna make this hard for him.

Jess had talked all day about wanting to stay in an actual log cabin if they were gonna bother staying at Yellowstone. He didn't know if they could find what she was looking for but he was wanting to give it a try for her. She sat in the passenger seat with her feet up on the dashboard humming to his one and only tape he had from high school that fit his radio. She bobbed her head to the beat and would occasionally sing certain parts loudly. He smiled over at her and drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel in tune. They were having a good day as the Rockies offered views of snow covered peaks along the way.

_Hey buddy, when are you guys getting back?_

_What you miss us?_

_No, it's just kind of quiet in the loft with Winston gone and I have nobody to chastise or clean up after. I am hoping you have Jess and she hasn't been kidnapped by Russians to harvest her eyes._

_Yeah, I have Jess. We are in the Rockies right now near Yellowstone._

_Oh god with the animals and tree pollen. How horrible. When will you be getting back to LA? Seriously._

_Sometime this weekend. Hang in there. We will be there soon enough to dirty up dishes and say stupid things you can correct us on._

_Thanks Nick. I appreciate your understanding. Stay alive._

They pulled into the Whispering Willow Inn after dark. Jess, despite being on the road for almost 12 hours, squeeled with delight as the headlights hit the individual log cabins. Nick parked in front of the office and got out and stretched. His legs were so uncomfortable.

An older gentleman came out from a cabin and asked if they needed a room. Jess walked with him into the office and came out later with a room key. They walked to the cabin towards the back of the lot near the woods and opened the door. It was quite possibly the smallest room he had ever seen. The bed was the size of the room and there was a bathroom and small dresser. That was it. There was no room for anything else.

"It is so quaint."

"Yeah, that's a word for it."

"Nick" Jess said with disapproving eyes.

"Sorry, it's quaint."

He once again retrieved their luggage and cooler with food they had filled up with earlier in the day. Their luggage in the room left them no room to actually walk on the floor.

Nick jumped on the bed and about flew back off of it the springs were so bouncy. Jess changed into her sinful pajamas again and instantly began to complain about the cold.

"You are so ridiculous" he grumbled. "You dress like a cheerleader at camp and then complain about being cold. Put some damn clothes on that body of yours if you're cold woman."

She smiled up at him because she found his screaming pretty cute. "I don't have anything else to wear Nick." She stared into his eyes testing him, seeing if he could resist her obvious flirtation.

He broke long enough to shake his head and reach in his bag for a flannel. He handed it over to her and mumbled under his breath something about bathrooms and cardigans.

She smiled and suddenly reached up and hugged him. It was unexpected and he took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around her body. She pulled away quickly and began to put on the flannel "thanks".

They were now both tucked into their tiny bed and looking on their phones. She was reading texts from Cece about how lonely Schmidt was without us and kept making giant meals just so he would have to clean up the mess.

Nick was reading an email from Missy in Austin apologizing for her behaviour towards him the morning after. She said she had always had a crush on him and had hoped his visit might become something more. When she had tried to kiss him and he had pushed her away, she felt unwanted.

His phone buzzed with Jess's name on it. He opened it despite the fact that she was less than a foot away from him. It was the photo from that night they went on a date. The night she was wearing that dress.

_Don' t forget._

_How could I? Look at you._

_I just don't want you to forget now that I'm going with roadtrip casual wearing men's clothes._

As he was typing in his response there became a very noticeable and distinct sound of breathing coming from the door.

"Oh my god Nick, what was that?"

"Ugh, that sounded like an animal to me Jess. Probably just a dog."

"OK" she said as she scooted farther under the covers.

They both heard the sound now of an animal scratching on the door and grunting.

"Nick, that is not a dog."

"No Jess, I think it might be a bear."

Nick got out of bed and tripped on their bags on his way to look all around for a weapon. What he was going to do with it, he had no idea. His brain tried to remember if you were supposed to play dead with bears or try to scare them. He couldn't remember.

Jess was whimpering in fear. The cabin was so small that the bear was literally inches from their bed. She could hear it breathing through the door and now it was shaking the door and scratching more ferociously at it. She began shaking from head to toe.

Nick took a shoe and hit the door with it as hard as he could hoping that would scare it off. It didn't. The bear continued shaking the door with its body and Jess and Nick looked at the handle of the door hoping it would hold.

"Jess, I have an idea. When I count to three, lets both just start screaming as loud as we can, k?"

"OK" she said with the shakiest voice Nick had ever heard her have.

"You can do this honey, look at me."

Jess looked up at Nick and he counted to three and they both began to scream and yell and he hit the door with his shoe over and over again. They stopped after a few minutes and they heard footsteps running to the door and then a knock.

Nick cautiously opened the door and found the old man that checked them into their room.

"Are you folks OK?"

"Yeah, I think there was a bear at the door cuz it kept scratching and shaking it. We could hear it breathe."

Jess was curled up in a ball sitting on the bed under the star quilt.

"Oh, I am so sorry folks. I should have told you that if you have any food to leave it in your car. We have a bad bear problem and that thing has been sniffing around here for about a week." The man touched the front door at some new scratches they could now see. There were deep gouges where it's claws had scratched it.

Nick looked at Jess and saw her big eyes terrified and turned back to the man and informed him he would put his food back in the car. He shut the door and put his shoes on. Grabbing his keys and their cooler, he walked to the car and put it in the back covering it with a tarp for some reason.

When he came back to the room Jess was nearly in tears. She was shaking and trying to act brave. He locked the door up making a big show of checking the windows so that the room was safe before he climbed in bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She breathed deeply and slowly stopped shaking.

He laid back on the bed and she snuggled up to his chest. He wrapped both his arms around her and kissed the top of her head "it's gonna be OK Jess, I'm here, it's gonna be OK, I promise."

She closed her eyes and knew it would be. She hugged him tighter and leaned up to kiss his neck. He let out a breath and she tucked her hand in the othr side of his chest knowing she was not letting go until morning forced them to.


	14. Chapter 15

**You have been warned!**

They woke at the same time in the morning moving legs around in the bed. Nick's back hurt from sleeping on it all night but he wanted to hold Jess tightly. He needed to turn over though or he was gonna become paralyzed. He rolled towards her as she opened her eyes. Their heads were now inches apart and he was looking straight into her sleepy eyes.

"Hi" she said.

"Hi"

His hand was on her arm lightly grazing her skin with his fingers. She could hear his breath growing deeper and his eyes looking at her with more intensity. She remembered last night and the way he had held her until she had stopped shaking and then played with her hair until she fell asleep on his chest. This man she was laying next to was so different than the man she remembered in LA.

She remembered once when the two of them were in the loft alone at night, sitting around the kitchen drinking beers. There had been a moment between them, a spark in their eyes. He had broken the spell by merely getting up and with no explanation, walking to his room and shutting the door. He had left her sitting there alone. It had been so confusing and awkward.

But now she was here wrapped up in this bed with the same man that was saving her from bears and taking her out to fancy dinners. His bedhead right now and the scruff on his face made her pull her hips closer to him until she felt his erection.

His fingers moved down her arm until it got to her chest and his thumb lightly grazed against her nipple. She sucked in her breath but continued staring into his eyes. His hand returned to her nipple gently cupping her breasts. Her hips pushed against his erection as he did that while she let out her breath. His hand moved down from her breasts to her stomach as he lifted his flannel up to touch her skin. He rubbed her stomach softly over the elastic of her pajama shorts while he blinked and smiled through his eyes at her.

Her body was starting to act on its own. She pulled her leg up on his. She closed her eyes and bit her lip as he lifted the elastic up from her pajama shorts and rubbed his finger lightly inside them.

She opened her eyes again and his eyes looked mischieviously at her but he didn't break the gaze for a moment. She could feel her body react to his fingers with deep breaths and soft moans. She wanted him to touch her between her legs. He bent his leg between hers and pushed up to her crotch. She tightened her legs around his pushing herself into it. She was finding it harder to stare at him and she knew her eyes were beginning to get out of focus.

He moved his face closer to hers and slipped his fingers quicker than she had expected all the way into her pants and into her slit. "Jess" he moaned when he felt how wet she was. "Oh god Jess" he said as his own eyes closed for a moment. She spread her legs for him then as he began to slide his hand up and down slowly but methodically on her clit.

She concentrated on the feeling of his hand on her and closed her eyes leaning her head back and breathing hard. She began whimpering more and more while pushing into his hand. Her legs were spread apart far as she lay on her back and he hovered over her face leaning on one arm. "Oh god" she moaned repeatedly as he quickened his pace. He rubbed farther and farther from her clit until he finally shoved a finger inside her where she bent her toes back and grabbed the flannel blanket for support. He didn't stop the pace as she rocked into his finger whimpering his name under her breath "Nick".

Nick could see it in her eyes that she was close to coming. He couldn't stop if he wanted to as she felt so good in his hands and watching her face moan out his name. She began to clench tightly on his finger so he took his thumb and rubbed it right on her clit as he continued to shove his finger in and out of her. She arched her back off the bed at that and instantly throbbed in waves on his finger and he could feel the warm liquid cover his fingers and she slowly laid back down on the bed and relaxed.

He pulled his finger out of her and out of her pajamas and covered her up with the flannel star blanket. Her head was turned away from him and she was trying to regulate her breathing. With one last big breath she turned and looked into Nick Miller's face. He was smiling at her, smugly. She punched his arm and said "good morning to you to" as she pushed him back onto his back and rubbed her hands on his chest.

Except there was a knock on the door. They froze in place as if they had been caught actually doing it.

"What do we do?" She whispered

"Answer it."

"I don't want to."

"Neither do I but he obviously knows we are here."

Jess hopped off the bed and opened the door a few inches.

The old man was there.

"Ya know I felt really bad about last night and was talking it over with the missus and we would really like to invite you over for breakfast this morning, if that would be OK? It should be ready in about ten minutes."

"Wow, that is so nice of you. Sure we would love to come over."

Nick hit his head over and over on his pillow at that sentence and wanted to scream.

"We'll see you in a few" Jess said as she closed the door.

"Why did you say we would come over?"

"Because Nick, they made us breakfast, that was really nice of them."

"Ugh woman, I had plans for you."

"Well, they're gonna have to wait now" she said as she climbed back onto the bed and touched his face and leaning her forehead on his forehead.

Nick closed his eyes and put both his hands on her face kissing her softly on the lips.

He pulled away from her and whispered "you're gonna make me burst woman."

"Later Miller, later."

They spent the late morning watching buffalo and moose wander the meadows. They saw old faithful and took photos in front of the old hotel. They couldn't linger much longer though as Jess had decided she wanted to head towards Portland to see her old friends before turning towards LA. That meant they had to boogie if they were gonna keep with their schedule.

Nick drove out of the Rockies and surveyed his car now. He had a beautiful girl sitting next to him staring at a map, a metal dinosaur on his dash as well as now a wood log cabin with a bear on the roof courtesy of the hotel owners. They hoped Jess would think it was funny after last night. Now he also was the proud owner of a bobblehead moose on his dash that Jess just had to buy cause it was soo cute. He smiled to himself inwardly and counted his lucky stars. This morning had been hot as hell and he had thought many times throughout the day of finding some side road they could pull down and finish what they started but that just sounded greedy.

_Hey Ms. fashion model, whatcha up to?_

_Oh ya know, just a little make-up, little hair drying. You?_

_We were in Yellowstone today and last night a bear tried to break down our door and Nick saved us with his shoe. Then today we saw buffalo and moose and Nick might have fingered me into oblivion this morning._

_Wha?_

_You heard me._

_Was it good?_

_Oblivion Cece, oblivion._

_Enjoy Jess. You deserve it._


	15. Chapter 16

_Hey Rachel, I forgot to tell you that I am with my roommate from LA, Nick._

_Oh, that's fine. Like I said you can have my spare room as long as you want. Whatever you need. You two sharing a room..._

_Yeah, we have been sharing hotel rooms this whole trip so it's no big deal._

_No big deal...:)_

_Yeah, no big deal:)_

_Lance will be there tonight. Just a warning. It would have been weird to not invite him. _

_OK, thanks for the head's up. Not sure there is anything I can do about it though._

_Yeah, it's gonna be fine. I am really glad I get to see you Jess. I miss you._

_Me too. I am excited. See you tonight._

Jess was sleeping right now with her mouth wide open leaning against Nick's shoulder. Occasionally he would look down at her face. Her lips were pink and her skin just a bit tanner from the last few days out in the sun.

He thought about all the miles he had driven. The desert light that changed colors throughout the day. He thought about Missy in Austin and what it felt like to relive some college glory days but that it had almost ruined him having a moment like this with Jess. He thought about Chicago and his family and the wedding. Jess had looked so beautiful taking his breath away whenever he looked at her from across the room.

When it had been time for him to do his speech at the wedding, his hands had broken out in a sweat and he slammed his drink down in front of Jess. She turned him towards her as she adjusted his tie and smiled into his eyes. "From the heart Miller, from the heart. This is a wedding where people expect that." She patted his tie down "I am right here."

He had stood up to get everyone's attention clinking his glass with a spoon. The room had hushed and people turned to look at him. He had swallowed hard and looked back down at Jess. Her face looking at him encouraging him to speak.

"My name is Nick and I am Jaime's brother." He took a deep breath. "My job today is apparently to speak from the heart but if anyone knows me, they know that is probably the hardest thing for me to do. I can tell you though that recently I met this woman in a small town somewhere between here and LA. I had been out stretching my legs when I came upon her needing some help carrying a bag of fertilizer. Her garage was organized with tools and boxes of christmas decorations. She had told me it was her husband's garage and that he had passed recently. It was a whole lifetime of memories in there. Her husband had shared her love of roses and she showed me all of them and knew their names and where they had come from. I realized then that the goal for us, the endgame here, is to have a garage full of memories like that. To have someone in your life to talk about roses or cars or trips across country with. And that is what today is about. My brother Jaime found that person to share those memories with, to fill a garage up with christmas decorations and camping supplies. We should all be so lucky to one day plant roses for anniversaries or trees when a kid is born. So for all of you out there who have that someone, I salute you and for Jaime and Kendra today, I salute you as well for pulling that off. Cheers everyone!"

He had sat back down next to Jess and looked at her for approval. Her eyes were filled with tears which made him immediately look down at the ground.

"That was a homerun Miller, a homerun."

A few people had patted him on the back and told him he had done a good job. He saw Uncle Harvey at the next table staring at him. He smiled at Nick with a thumb's up and a head nod "well done kid."

Nick simply took a swig of his beer and pulled off the label congratulating himself on being done and maybe, just maybe, pulling that off.

_Where you guys at Miller?_

_Somewhere near Portland to see Jess's friends._

_You guys heading south after that?_

_Yeah, we should be there in two days._

_You remember my Uncle has that cabin near San Francisco. You want to stay there?_

_Whoa, I forgot about that place. That was a fun weekend. I remember it well. Is it still standing?_

_Hell yes it is still standing. I know where the key is if you want it. I'll text you directions. No one is there and the road is kind overgrown but you guys can stay there. You would be doing him a favor checking on the place actually._

_Yeah, that would be great. Thanks Winston._

Portland was dark as they came into the city but Jess knew how to get where they were going easily. He parked the car at her friend's house as the bar was only a block away.

Jess jumped to the back of the car excited to see everyone but also nervous. She riffled through her luggage looking for a brush and some mascara. Nick leaned against the car looking up at the sky.

"OK, ready" Jess said after a few minutes. She had changed into a button down with a jacket and pulled her hair back.

"You look good."

Jess smiled at Nick and put her stuff back into her bag and closed the trunk. She motioned towards the bar and he took her hand in his and they walked silently down the street.

Nick had never been in a bar like this before. It had plants hanging all around it and a separate room with pinball machines. It was quiet with folk music playing overhead.

Jess's friend Rachel saw Jess and squeeled while running across the room to then jump up and down as they hugged. Nick felt uncomfortable immediately but shook Rachel's hand when introduced. He turned to the bar and ordered them some drinks.

Jess's friends were taking up a large table and talking loudly amongst themselves. He put her wine down in front of her at the table and she looked up at him and smiled a thank you. He sat down next to her and she introduced him all around. He quietly began drinking his beer and listening to people asking Jess questions about their trip.

"Was the bear trying to get in your room?"

"Yeah, basically it was like trying to eat us for dinner."

Nick smiled to himself while looking at the table hearing the story already grow into something all together differently.

"What are your plans next?"

"Well, we are gonna turn and head to LA tomorrow, right Nick?"

"Yep" he said taking in a deep breath at what felt like impending doom to him.

The liquor flowed freely that night and the group became more animated as last call was announced. Nick got up to pay the bar tab and Jess pulled up next to him and pulled out her wallet.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you some money for my drinks tonight."

"No you aren't. We made a deal. You get the rooms and I pay for everything else."

"Yeah but our room is free tonight."

"So, that just makes you smarter than me." He smiled at her.

"Nick, just let me pay" she said slightly slurred.

"No, I am paying and that is it."

"OK, well, I am no gonna fist fight you on this but I will agree only on one condition."

"What's that" he smiled at her.

"If this counts as our third date."

Nick rolled his eyes. "This hardly counts as a date Jess. Unless we are group dating then this would count for sure."

"Well, we need to have that third date then."

"OK, do you have a plan or something?"

"Maybe" she said suggestively to him, smiled and turned to walk back to her friends.

Nick shook his head while smiling as she walked away. He didn't quite know what that meant but he liked that she was still flirting with him.

The group rather loudly walked down the street towards Rachel's house stopping at a playground at a school. Jess and Rachel immediately jumped on the swings and pushed their way through the night sky. Nick walked to a corner of the playground and leaned against a tree watching Jess giggle like a kid.

That's when it all changed. That was the moment Nick returned to being a bastard.

Lance, the idiot guy he had talked to at the table about naturopathic medicine and some dumb mushroom you drink, got behind Jess and started pushing her on the swing. Nick stood up taller when he saw it and he took a deep breath. Who was this bozo touching Jess?

Rachel walked over to him at that point and made small talk to him about the weather and Chicago. He watched Jess like a hawk and barely could concentrate on her friend talking to him. His voice became clipped and he used very few words to answer her questions with. Rachel looked over at Jess and Lance following his gaze.

"He has had a crush on her forever."

"What?"

"Lance. Since I can remember he's had a thing for Jess."

"Yeah, looks that way" Nick said as he stared down at his feet.

"She has never liked him back though" Rachel said as she reached over and squeezed his arm.

Nick pulled away from her and walked through the playground and back to his car. He was sitting on the hood when the party arrived filing into Rachel's house.

Jess saw Nick out there on the hood and walked out to sit with him.

"Hey Miller, whatcha doing?"

"Passing time Jess."

She leaned her head on his shoulder but he pulled away from her. What had she done?She couldn't remember the last thing they had talked about but she couldn't remember a lot right now. She did know she had to pee and it would be a good idea to drink some water. Why was Nick mad at her though?

"What's the matter Nick?"

"Not a thing Jess, not a thing" he answered sarcastically.

"Well, stop acting like a grumpous and come inside and dance."

"No, I think I am gonna hang out here for awhile."

"Seriously?" She thought that seemed kind of rude.

"Nick, what did I do? Why are you mad at me?"

"I am not mad at you Jess."

"Well, you aren't very happy with me either."

"Jess, please just go inside now. Go dance with Lance and I will see you later, k?"

"With Lance." What was he talking about. "What? Oh forget it. I am not gonna let your sour mood ruin my night with my friends. You want to sit out here and act all moody and grumpy, be my guest. You know where I will be ." She stormed off into the house.

He shook his head and rubbed his neck. Damnit Miller. He could feel his old insecurities creeping in. He looked inside the house and saw everyone dancing and Lance had his hands on her hips from behind.

"Fuck" he mumbled to himself and balled his hand into a fist. He jumped off the car and walked into the house.

Everyone was dancing to songs from high school as he walked into the kitchen. He found beers in the fridge and helped himself to one. He watched as Lance the schmuck saddled up behind Jess pulling her closer to his body. Jess, drunk and singing at the top of her lungs, seemed not to notice. It was all Nick could notice.

He felt someone watching him and turned to see Rachel looking at him a bit nervously. She slowly danced her way over to Jess and whispered something into her ear. Nick knew it was about him and turned his back to them to drink his beer. This was so uncomfortable. He wished he had some place to crawl under and hide. He also wished he could take Lance outside and kick his acupuncture ass. When he turned back around some people were now sitting down and Nick moved over to an overstuff chair in a corner. He didn't know what else to do but watch Jess dance and stare at his beer. He didn't want to talk to these people and he really wanted to escape this place but he knew that Jess wouldn't forgive him if he ran away right now.

The song stopped and Jess walked over to Nick and drunkenly landed on his lap. He instinctively put an arm around her back and looked into her hazy eyes. She smiled at him and put her head on his chest.

"I am a bit drunk Nick."

"I can see that."

She turned and looked into his eyes and reached up to his face, rubbing his four day stubble that was almost a beard.

"I like this" she whispered.

Nick smiled feeling hopeful she hadn't remembered that guy outside on the hood of the car.

"I'm glad."

Her eyes were playful with him as she continued to stare at him and rub his chin. People were noticing the two of them now and he felt himself grow stiff under their gaze. He took deep breaths so as not to blow this moment between them but his flight reflex was in full form right now.

Jess got up from the chair and took Nick's hand in hers and pulled him towards the hallway of Rachel's house. He didn't know where she was going as she led him through a door and then closed it behind her flicking on a light. They were in a bathroom and she was leaning against the door.

"What are you doing Jess?"

"I am doing what I have wanted to do for quite awhile."

"And what is that" he said softer as he read the want in her eyes. He began to panic as she closed the gap between them and touched his chest with her hands.

He put his hands on her hips and pushed her back. "Jess you are really drunk."

"Yeah, so, I know what I'm doing Nick."

He chuckled out loud "I am sure you do Jess but I don't want it like this."

"You don't want me?"

"I didn't say that. I said I don't want this" he motioned between their bodies "in your friend's bathroom."

"Oh" she pouted pushing out her bottom lip and giving him a baby look. Her hand moved down to his pants and she squeezed his dick gently. "Are you sure."

Nick moaned a bit "you are making it harder".

"Yeah, that is the point Nick" as she more firmly squeezed and began to run her hand up and down the length of it.

Nick gasped at the sensation of her closeness to his body and how quickly he was erect. These few days in hotel rooms so close to Jess had brought him to a point of almost pain when he had woken up with no way to let out the sexual tension that had been growing between them.

"Jess, don't" he whimpered as she began to unbuckle his belt and get her hand inside.

Jess was drunk but she knew what she was doing. She wanted Nick badly but she wanted more than anything to make him not so sad and grumpy. She knew being in Portland would be hard for him but he was so clearly trying not to get angry with her friends and not runaway when he saw Lance dancing with her. She wanted to show him that they were still good.

Also, she liked feeling his length in her hand. Her underwear dampened, her nipples hardened and her breath quickened. She more forcefully took ahold of his now very erect cock and began moving her hand up and down.

Nick backed up against the sink and held onto its sides while Jess pulled down his pants more. She dropped to her knees and looked up at him with a smile. He couldn't believe this was happening. He knew she should stop but he was already about to burst and it almost hurt to not give in. She put his cock in her mouth with those pink lips he had been staring at all day. Her hand confidently stayed at the base while she sucked on the tip putting more and more in her mouth with each shove.

Nick moaned as quietly as he could. He could already feel himself begin to go over the edge but he was worried about blowing in her mouth. He reached down to push her head away and she grabbed onto his hips with both hands to keep her head exactly where it was. "Jess, no"

She grabbed his legs tightly and quickened her pace as he crested over the top and began releasing a whole week's worth of pent up frustrations and attraction right into Jessica's Day's mouth. He pumped and pumped until he was almost slumped over holding onto the sink for dear life.

Jess stood up when he was done and pulled his pants back up, zipping them and even fastening his belt back on like he was a toddler.

She looked into his eyes with a huge satisfied grin on her face and he reached up to her face, touching her lips with his thumb. He felt like a noodle right now incapable of even standing up straight.

"Wow Jess, I didn't think you had that in you."

"Maybe we are both full of surprises on this trip."

"Yeah, I guess we are" he smiled back at her.

She turned to the door and walked back to the party as if nothing had ever happened. Nick turned to look at himself in the mirror and saw the tan face and beard filling in. He could actually see in himself a man smiling back. A man, he thought that through a bit more and said out loud "a man".


	16. Chapter 17

"Good morning drunkard" Nick said as he sat on the side of the bed where Jess slept. He had been up for awhile and knew they needed to get going to get down the coast by nightfall.

"What?"

"I said wake-up drunkard" as he slapped her butt through the blankets. "Wake-up."

"Why, why must you wake me from my slumber."

"Because you insisted we drive a thousand miles out of our way so you could get drunk with witch doctors and buddhist monks."

She smiled at his take away from last night. Her head hurt and she was so thirsty but she knew she had to pull herself up.

Nick saw her sit upright with her eyes glued shut not noticing her tank was dipping dangerously close to her nipples. He whistled loudly "how late were you up last night, you look a wreck."

"Thanks Nick, really making me feel good about myself this morning" she smiled up at him slowly opening her eyes. She saw he had aspirin and some orange juice in his hand that she took faithfully and climbed up out of bed towards her suitcase.

"It was pretty late. I haven't seen Rachel in a long time so it was good to catch up after everyone left."

Nick had heard the two friends talking in the living room when he went to bed. It sounded like girl chat and absolutely nothing he wanted to get involved with.

She avoided his gaze knowing full well she took a chance last night telling Rachel how she felt about Nick. She was worried he would hear but he didn't seem to be acting any different this morning so she couldn't have scared him off.

Jess had asked Nick to pull over at the next beach they saw so she could go for a walk. She was feeling really tired today but also could feel the first tugs of nerves as their adventure was ending tomorrow and it felt like a vice grip on her heart.

She took her shoes off and began walking on the cool sand. It squeezed between her toes until she got closer to the water where she left clear footprints. A wave came up to her feet and the Pacific felt colder than down south. She turned and ran back towards the softer sand to escape more icy waves.

Nick was watching her with his hands shoved in his pants. His jacket fit snugly on him and she thought he was quite possibly the cutest she had ever seen him. His hair was wavy, his eyes scrunched together from the sun and a distinct bear now. He was smiling at her as she came barreling towards him jumping onto him with her arms wrapped around his neck.

She screached out a laugh as he pulled her up in his arms, feet off the ground. He held her tight for a moment, feeling her warm body against his own. She wrestled out of his tight grip jumping down to the sand and running back out towards the water. She could see him chuckle to himself and turn and walk down the beach.

They walked silently for an hour. She would pick up seashells and he would throw rocks into the water. Sometimes they walked arm in arm and other times she would be twenty feet behind him looking at seaweed or taking pictures of the birds. They were relaxed today. Neither one of them wishing to over think anything. Both of them just happy to be with the other.

"You think we ought to turn around" he said when they got to a large cliff they would have to climb to get around.

"Yeah, probably" she said but lingered on his face studying his eyes.

He took a deep breath and swallowed. She was so adorable right now with her pants wet and her hair wild from the wind. Earlier in the car he had thought about kissing her in Chicago and he realized that he hadn't kissed her in two thousand miles. He needed to feel her. He needed to feel how she felt about him. He stepped closer towards her and noticed she sucked in a breath as he got closer to her face.

He put his hands on her hips as they continued looking into each other's eyes. Forehead to forehead now, eyes closing he leaned into her face and gently touched her lips with his own. It was a slow slow kiss. He took his time. Her arms reached up to the collar of his jacket and he bent down a bit taking her in his arms tightly as they pushed into each other more. Their mouths opened cautiously as they explored one another. She felt light in his arms and her legs tingled as their heads turned breathing into one another. He gently pulled away from her, ending their kiss with both of them wanting more.

He stared at her serious now. No smiles. He touched her face and thought to himself that he would do anything for this woman. Anything.

Jess felt her heart soar like the birds on the beach. She felt sexy and warm inside. She felt like her life was changing and this gorgeous man touching her face right now was the reason why.

They turned to walk back down the beach. He put his arm around her shoulder and she reached around his waste tucking her hand in his back pocket. They felt like they were the only people on the planet.


	17. Chapter 18

"So, I kind of have a surprise for you."

"You do, I like surprises."

Smiling "well, I hope you like it because it is a bit risky."

"Intriguing" she said and left it at that.

Nick stopped at a grocery store looking for a few essentials that they had not gotten along the way. He wouldn't let Jess go in the store with him and when he returned, he hid the bag away in the back of the car.

"You ready?"

"Ahh, yeah, I'm ready."

_Cece, I think I might be in trouble_

_What's wrong, are you OK? Did Nick hurt you?_

_No Cece, Nick did not hurt me. I'm fine. I mean I think I might be in trouble cuz well, I might be falling pretty hard for that man right now. _

_Ohhh, all those nights in hotels finally got to the two of you._

_Well, funny you should say that because everything but THAT has happened. _

_So what does that mean, you two are a thing now._

_I don't know Cece. We seem to be avoiding talking about "it". _

They turned down a crazy rut filled gravel road as Nick read the directions on his phone cursing under his breath everytime they hit another pothole. Blackberries scratched against his car and Jess flinched away from the door as if they were gonna get her. After what seemed like hours, they finally pulled into a dirt driveway and there she saw it.

It was a tiny cabin with cedar shingles and white windows. There were pine trees growing all around it and rhododendrons in bloom along the edges. Jess smiled in excitement as they got out and she realized she could hear the ocean.

"This place is awesome Nick."

"Yeah, it is actually Winston's Uncle's place. We came here once in college to go salmon fishing. It was a pretty cool getaway. There is a pathway down to the beach and nobody around for miles."

He found the hidden key and opened the door hoping the roof hand't fallen in or the place was covered with rats or something. The house had no electricity so he found some oil lamps in the closet he remembered from the last time they were there and took out a lighter from the grocery bag from earlier. The one room filled with light and she could see that it was actually a tiny cabin that had a bed and couch a small kitchen. It was old and rustic with family photos in picture frames and mounted fish on the walls.

She sat down on the couch and smiled at how ridiculously quaint it all was.

Nick opened the back door and the smell of the ocean came in with the breeze. She could hear him moving things around outside. She didn't want to move from this spot as she took in the smells of the old cabin mixed with the beach and the trees outside. She didn't know if Nick was aware but this was just about the most romantic place she had ever been to.

She heard water splashing now and then the smell of burning wood. Her curiosity peaked so she walked out the back door Nick had gone through earlier and found him fiddling with a fire that was sitting under a bathtub filled with water. He looked up at her with a smile and she returned the gaze with confusion.

Nick took her hand and walked her over to the bathtub and then turned her body towards the ocean view she hadn't seen from inside the cabin. He was heating the tub up to sit in and look at the ocean.

"There isn't any hot water in the cabin so you heat the tub like a pot on a stove."

She gasped at how beautiful it was. The sun wouldn't go down for awhile but it was on its way. She smiled like a kid at Disneyland and took a quick look around at the forest nearby, the path to the beach, the adirondack chairs and the crab pots stacked in a corner.

"What the hell, this is like nothing I have ever seen."

"Yeah, when Winston and I came up here he took a bath every single night and did not care at all how weird it looked for a grown man to sit in that thing and sing while I drank beer."

She felt the tears welling up behind her eyes and looked away hoping he didn't see her be a sap. Nick would immediately make fun of her for that but she was so tired and hungover and emotional.

He told her it would take about an hour for the bath to warm up so they unpacked the car and made some sandwiches for dinner again. That was clearly one things she was not going to miss on roadtripping was eating the same food over and over again.

She found linens for the bed in a metal garbage can and Nick explained to her it was so mice couldn't get in the towels and sheets. He saw her squirm a little when he said mice so he made scratching noises on the wall and whispered "what was that" making her eyes pop out of her head. He laughed out loud and did it again. Jess realized it was Nick making the noise so she threw a pillow at him which started a pillow fight between the two of them lightening the mood that had fallen on them after that beach kiss. The bed didn't smell great but it was cozy with thick blankets and clean sheets. She looked around the room at their luggage sitting on the dresser and the bottlecaps from Nick's beers on the counter. She smiled tight lipped and she hugged herself for good measure.

Nick checked on the bath water and it felt perfect. He took the rest of the supplies out of the bag from earlier and put them on a chair next to the bath. He had gotten her a bunch of girly things in the bath section.

"It's ready" he yelled from outside.

In a few minutes Jess came out wrapped in the flannel star blanket they had taken across the country with them. He suddenly realized he shouldn't be here so she could have privacy.

"I will leave you to it" he said as he began to walk away from her.

"No" she whispered grabbing his shirt. "Stay".

Nick swallowed hard. Flight reflexes were strobelighting in his head. He didn't think he could sit here with her while she took a bath. It was one thing to surprise her with it yet another to be a part of it.

She looked into his eyes and dropped the blanket off her body. His legs were instantly cemented to the ground. Neither one of them broke their gaze. He didn't know what he should do. Did she want him to get in the bath! Did she want him to kiss her?

Her eyes looked sad to him and he wondered if she felt the same weight on her heart as he did. There were a lot of unspoken fears about returning to LA that he kept shaking out of his brain.

Jess finally turned and stepped into the tub.

Nick began to breathe again but had to take a moment to calm his pounding heart. Yeah, he looked. He looked and saw her perfect heart shaped ass drop down into the water and heard a small moan from Jess.

"This is so awesome Nick. Oh my god. I cannot believe we are here right now. It's like a movie or something."

He sat on one of the chairs looking out over the ocean. The sun was about to set and he could hear the birds catching the wind back to their nests. He drank his beer listening to Jess move around in her bath.

"Nick, you got me bath gel?"

"Yeah, I picked the most ridiculous fruity one I could."

"Thank you" she answered in a little girl voice he rolled his eyes at.

"When was the last time you took a bath Nick?"

"When I was a baby."

"Oh please Nick, never?"

"Never."

"Well that is silly."

The sky grew dark as they watched the sunset. Both of them locked on the last rays of the bright yellow ball falling down into the water. When it was completely gone Jess laid her head back on the bath tub edge and looked up in the sky. Stars were beginning to sparkle and she closed her eyes hoping to never forget this place. "Stars" she said out loud.

Nick looked up at the sky as well. He remembered talking to Jess on the phone about the stars he saw out in the desert. You could see so many out there with no trees in the way. It had been pretty fantastic. "Stars" he said quietly.

"Nick"

"Yeah"

"Can you bring me the blanket?"

"Of course" he said as he set his beer down and picked it up walking towards her. He only then realized he could see all of her in the water. It was getting dark but it definitely wasn't dark enough that he couldn't see the curve of her hips or her dark hair and nipples under the water.

She saw him gazing down at her body and he looked away quickly as he blindly handed the blanket to her. When she didn't take it he turned to hand it to her again and she was standing up in the bath, soaking wet and defiantly looking at him. Her eyes were daring him to make a move.

She stepped out of the water feeling as if she might cry at any moment. She felt vulnerable yet powerful, beautiful yet ugly. The conflicting feelings bubbling to the surface were screaming for her to act awkward and run into the house and away from Nick.

Suck it up Jess. Stand here, force him to do something. Don't run, stay. Her eyes were filling with tears and she knew she was gonna cry any second if he didn't make a move. He was currently standing there frozen in place.

Nick wasn't breathing. Jess was standing naked, her body wet under the stars. Was he dreaming. Could he have ever dreamt something so beautiful. She shivered and he heard her breath shake from the cold. He took the blanket she had made for him, that she had thought enough of him to spend hours and hours stitching together something that only they would understand and wrapped it around her.

He held the blanket around her neck and he knew, he knew he loved her. He loved her like he had never loved another, could never love another. He stared at her with his mouth open not able to speak and not able to move.

Jess could feel herself shivering but she wasn't sure it was from the cold or the deep gaze of Nick's eyes. He looked dangerous and sexy and scared at the same time. She wanted his hands on her so bad she didn't think she could wait another moment. She suddenly felt a surge of adrenaline she hadn't had earlier. It was now or never she thought.

"please" she whispered quietly to him

Nick heard her word and his brain snapped too. He grabbed her around the waist and violently crashed his mouth against hers. Her arms flung up around his neck and she pushed his head against her own firmly.

His hands wrapped around her back and tightened so hard it almost hurt. Their mouths were trying to consume each other to such an extreme that she didn't even know if she was breathing.

Nick pulled away from her face and bent down to pick her up. She lost her breath at the gesture and before she could take another he had her in the cabin and was kicking the door shut with his foot. The room was lit by the oil lamp and he brought her to the bed and laid her down gently. She was still wrapped in the quilt which she unwrapped herself from and knealt up to his body on her knees. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him down onto her in the bed. His body laid on her as his hands caressed up the side of her body.

She reached for the buttons of his shirt and as quickly as she could unbuttoned it and pushed it off his body. She needed his skin on hers. He laid back down on her and she felt the heat of his body warm her as they kissed each other as deeply as they could.

He laid back on his back and unbuttoned his pants and pulled them off along with his boxers and socks. They both quickly smiled at one another and pulled back the blankets of the bed and crawled under them. He reached over to her body and pulled her forcefully over to him crashing into her. His hands were on her butt squeezing it while his mouth found her neck and was passionately kissing and biting it moaning as he did. He found her breast and took almost the whole thing in his mouth sucking hard on her nipple as it slipped out of his mouth.

"oh god Nick" she moaned loudly knowing that no one was going to hear them or stop them tonight. His hands moved down beetween her legs and he quickly shoved a finger inside of her. She bucked backwards letting out a desperate cry and instantly widening her legs for him.

Nick's body was grabbing at Jess fueled by her moans and cries for more. He kissed her breasts and then her stomach. The blankets were over his head now as his finger moved in and out of her body. He bit her hip bone and her upper thigh making his way to her slit. He pulled his finger out of her and used his hand to separate her lips before he plunged his face deep into her with his tongue on her clit. She shrieked "Nick" and grabbed the blankets around her tightly. "Oh god Nick, don't stop" she chanted as he aggressively attacked at her like it was his last meal. Her body thrashed around and she groaned deeper by the second. It had only been minutes but they had lit the fire and it was wild. He couldn't take it anymore as he pushed his way back up to her face while his hands pulled her legs far apart and he plunged into her deep and hard.

She was so wet and hot. She wrapped her legs around his back grabbing onto his shoulders pulling him into her as fast as he wanted to be in her. He got on his knees still in her and pulled her legs up around his neck. She opened her eyes and looked at him pleading with him to pump it into her again. "Nick, yes" she groaned.

He held onto her legs and rammed her over and over again. He felt his legs begin to shake as he came closer and closer to letting it all out. He had to wait for Jess though. He looked down at her beautiful body and took his hand to rub her clit while she tried to regulate her breathing. He couldn't believe how crazy he felt right now, like he wanted to break her in half with his cock. She bucked up against him with her face flushed from the exertion.

Her moans became more and more and he could feel she was about to come. He leaned over and took a nipple in his mouth and sucked on it hard until he felt her clenching on him and he sat back up and pounded her as hard as he could. She came instantly arching her back up towards him. The sight of her breasts being flung into the air sent him into wave after wave of climax as he pumped himself into her a few last times.

"Oh god he said as he laid down next her afterwards, awestruck at what they had both just done. It had felt animalistic and dirty. Jess covered her mouth with her hand and began to giggle. She didn't know why it was so funny but she wasn't sure she had ever done anything quite like that before.

Nick looked over at her and began to giggle as well. He leaned on his side and turned her head towards him "you OK?"

She could see his eyes were sincere as she calmed herself "yeah, I'm great."**  
**

"Good" he said as he leaned over and kissed her on the lips "cuz that was wild woman. How have we lasted almost a week! My god Jess, you are yummy."

Her face turned red instantly at his words and she covered her face with her hands "you did not just say that!"


	18. Chapter 19

Nick felt self conscious running across the cabin naked but he needed to step outside to pee. He checked the tub water and it was still warm. He thought about dumping it but decided to do it in the morning.

As he came back in he grabbed another bag from the store earlier and hopped into the bed again and to the warmth of Jess's skin.

"Oh my god Nick, you are so cold."

"Well warm me up woman!"

Jess spread her body over him wherein Nick moaned "oh god, that will get us some heat in here".

She giggled and pulled off of him.

"What's in the bag dude."

He looked at her with a funny face at the word dude and handed it over to her.

She opened it and her face lit up like a toddler being handed a bow.

"Nick, no way did you find all of this today. Oh my god, you remembered!"

Jess began to pull out Bottle Caps, Starburst and Pop Rocks. "I just cannot believe you got this for me". She stopped moving and smiled, leaned over and casually kissed him on the lips. She was touched.

She ripped open the Pop Rocks and imitated the robot again while Nick chuckled at her and ate a few Bottle Caps. The Starburst she separated out into piles of colors. "Here, you can have all of these" pushing the reds, oranges and yellows towards Nick "but the pinks, they're mine. All mine."

"What, you're offering me the garbage. Is that what you're saying" he replied sarcastically.

"Yes" she giggled. "That is all that I am offering you".

He shook his head back and forth "you women, so particular.

They sat up in bed talking about their favorite childhood candy and foods. Jess laughed at Nick's stories as he described Winston's horrible experiences with everything from blueberry pancake pukes to eating raw dried spaghetti at school until everyone called him Luigi. As they talked, their hands would caress each other on the arms or chest never breaking the touch between them.

"Nick, um, I kinda need to pee but I am really scared to go outside by myself. Don't tease, I am."

"I won't tease Jess, come on, I will go out there with you."

They walked out to the back naked holding hands. Jess felt ridiculous but it was also dark and he was naked too. He opened the door and stood outside while she ran behind a tree neaby.

"You didn't pee over here did you?"

"Maybe."

"Nick, are you serious because I don't have shoes on and I don't want to walk in your pee."

Nick laughed out loud "no, I wasn't over there you big baby."

She walked back towards him when she was done and could see his outline in the dark. He had his hands behind his head and was looking up at the stars. She sashayed over to him and he put his arm around her.

"Nick, it's cold out here."

"Yeah, it is, lets go back inside."

"No, I have a better idea" and she took his hand towards the bathtub that still had steam coming off the top.

She climbed in and turned to Nick "get in".

"Ugh, no, not gonna do it, nope."

"Are you serious Miller. Get in now."

"No Jess, I am not getting in a damn bathtub."

"Fine, enjoy the couch then."

"What?"

"You heard me, enjoy the couch. There is a sleeping bag in the garbage can. Sleep well. I will be here in the warm bathtub, naked and soaping my body up with this yummy bath gel that I just cannot quite get on some hard to reach places" she said breathily.

"Oh my god woman, danglng that carrot in front of me, that is mean."

"Then get in here you dumbass."

Nick climbed in facing opposite Jess. He felt awkward not knowing where to put his feet with Jess on the other side. There wasn't enough room for the two of them and water splashed over the sides.

"Oh geeze Nick, you're like a bull in a glass shop. Stop moving."

"I'm sorry Jess but there is just not enough room for two people. I'm getting out."

"Stop" she said as she grabbed his wrist and tugged him towards her. "Now, lay back against this end with your feet straight out.

Nick obeyed and she turned around with her back to him and leaned against his chest now sitting between his legs. "Ah, isn't that better" she said.

Nick wrapped his arms around her while she moved her hair away from his face. "Now lean back and relax."

He squeezed her tight and they both looked at the stars up above listening to the waves crash against the rocks down below. He sighed out loud and she gently pinched his arm around her neck.

"Perfect" she said in a whisper.

"Yeah, it is" he answered back.


	19. Chapter 20

Jess looked out the window at rolling hills passing by. She saw old cow trails and occasionally a power line could be seen out in the distance. They were heading south to LA at 75 mph. It looked like they would be there in only a matter of hours. She lightly touched her lips with her fingers remembering that morning as tears fell silently down her face.

They had woken up late after staying up half the night in the tub. They immediately began to clean up the cabin and pack up their stuff as they had done every morning since they were in Chicago.

Nick put the last of the luggage in his car. He found Jess standing near the back door looking down at the ocean.

"Would you mind if we walked down there real quick before we leave?"

"No, that sounds good" he smiled back at her.

They walked down the beach holding hands. It was a beautiful sunny day and the water was so bright they both needed their sunglasses.

They came to a rock outcrop and Jess climbed up and took a seat. Nick followed her up and sat down with his arm around her neck.

"Nick" she paused. "Nick I need to say something."

He immediately pulled his arm back and shoved his hands in his jacket. He knew what was coming and he needed to prepare himself.

"I want you to know that no matter what happens next, this time, this trip, it has really meant something to me."

Nick listened closely and stared down at the rocks. He nodded his head and looked up at the ocean.

"Yeah, it's been cool."

She was slightly taken aback. Cool? She was a girl he went on a cool trip with.

"Well that's nice" she said sarcastically.

He turned to look at her face but her eyes were hiding behind the sunglasses. He couldn't see if she was being serious or not. He continued to stare out at the water until she finally got up and started walking back towards the cabin.

Nick jumped down sensing her anger and ran to catch up with her.

"Jess wait, did I say something wrong?"

"No, you didn't say anything wrong. You just barely said anything at all."

He looked at the ground.

"We have driven all the way across country and last night was just" she took a big breath her tears rising to the surface again "it was amazing and the only thing you can say is this was a cool?"

"Jess, what do you want me to say?"

"I don't know Miller, I've never been on a roadtrip before. Maybe this is just what people do. They drive across the country having all these experiences together, stay in romantic cabins, naked, and then go home and say yeah that was a cool."

"OK. How about I say it was a good trip. Maybe I can say it was an above par trip. What the hell do you want me to do here Jess? Do you want me to say what you would say that it was amazeballs and quaint and filled with bears and bubble baths?"

"No Nick, I wouldn't want you to say that because that isn't what you felt, obviously!"

He could feel his blood begin to boil. "Ugh! I am just so tired Jess. I am so tired. I knew this would happen. I knew it."

"Yeah, me too. I knew this wouldn't work" she spat out at him.

Nick flinched at her words. He hadn't meant that.

They both turned and walked silently all the way back to the cabin, hands jammed in their pockets. He felt so stupid he had made the tired comment. Was that the best he had? She thought this was a mistake? Really? He wanted to say so much right now. He just didn't know why he couldn't.

They reached the back door of the cabin and went inside to lock it up. She stopped in the kitchen to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She felt like crying but knew she couldn't in front of Nick.

He came in behind her and stopped, facing her.

"Hey" he said curtly wanting to say it differently. Wanting to show her how he felt.

"Hey."

He looked at her face. She looked tense and sad, so very sad. He could see the tears about ready to come out and her chin slightly quivered. He felt the same inside. They stared into each other's eyes. He swallowed hard and took a step towards her. She instinctively took a step back and ran into the kitchen counter. He pushed his body up against hers, his rapid breath on her face.

She felt a bit scared and nervous. He had turned dark and unpredictable suddenly. His hands were on either side of hers on the counter leaning into her. His mouth was open and he pulled back looking at her body longingly. He didn't shy away from lingering on her breasts.

Jess sucked in her breath in anticipation. She wanted him but she also wanted to hurt him.

He looked her in the eyes again and so very slowly moved his hands down to her pants and pushed them over her hips to the floor, his hands grazing her thighs on his way back up.

Jess was almost shaking. She was so vulnerable and yet did nothing but stand there. Her legs began to shake from the cold and the hands he now had on her hips. She couldn't stop swallowing as she felt the heat rise between them.

Jess didn't know what he was doing but he began to lower his body down to his knees. When she realized his intentions she tried pushing his face away from her body. The gesture came out angry.

Before she could move him away again, his mouth was on her body. He was holding her in place tightly against the counter while his tongue slid up and down her slit. She clenched at the feeling and yet still fighting with him, wanted him to stop. Her hands pounded on the counter as she began to moan deeply. He lifted one of her legs and put it on his shoulder spreading her farther as he did it. He moaned to himself as he wrapped both his arms around her thighs and began to devour all of her.

Her body bucked forward at the move and she felt her blood rush to her middle while she held on physically to the counter. His arms were holding up her lower body now as she began to thrash at the sensation rushing over her.

"You taste so good" he whispered to nobody.

No, no, he wasn't gonna do this to her she thought. I will not be his play toy. His words made her whimper and her nipples turn hard.

She grabbed his hair now and pulled him upwards painfully. Now on his feet he moved his lips to her neck, needing her skin in his mouth again. He could feel Jess tensing up and then relaxing, whimpering as she exposed more of her neck.

He reached down to unbutton his pants. He needed her. He needed to feel her, be in her, show her how he felt.

He dropped his pants to the ground and looked in her eyes. He was surprised by the anger he found. She was breathing deeply and her face was red. She grabbed his erection aggressively and moved him to push into her. He felt confused by her gestures as she was so angry. He couldn't do this. He pulled back his body and looked at her face again. He slowed everything down and moved his lips near her. Her head turned away from him. She grabbed at his erection again wrapping her legs around his waste and sliding it into her body.

Her eyes were shut tight. He wanted to see her eyes. He tried to kiss her again and she turned away. She was now pushing into him over and over again as he stood there like a statue.

Then it happened. He felt his anger takeover. If she didn't want anything but just this, fine, he would give her just that. He grabbed at her hips and moved himself down lower so he could get deeper. He thrust quicker and quicker grunting loudly. She leaned her head back and let him, silently pleading that Nick would say something, anything to make this anger go away.

They both avoided each other's eyes as they pounded one another. Nick could feel his heart gripped in sadness and anger begin to break him. He shook his head trying to hold back. He wasn't ready yet. He wanted to somehow make this better before they were done. He felt desperate as the sadness began to take over, his breaths becoming muffled sobs. Finally gripped fully with despair, he came hard, clenching her hips so tight he probably bruised her. He shuttered repeatedly so violently gripped by his own emotions.

When he was spent, he pulled out of her. He pulled up his pants, turned and walked out of the cabin. He stood looking at the ocean wiping tears from his eyes knowing that was the last time he would probably ever touch Jessica Day.


	20. Chapter 21

He poured a scotch on the rocks and two beers without even making eye contact with the customer. He was gonna get horrible tips today but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything anymore.

His self loathing was thick as fog in his head. He would live in regret over this one. He hadn't wanted something so much before Jess. He hadn't cared about so much before Jess. Now she wouldn't even talk to him and could he blame her? He left her there in the kitchen after he had practically used her. He was so ashamed it made him nauseous to remember.

He rubbed his face hoping to wake up a bit more. He wanted to disappear in a bottle of whiskey and sleep for four days afterwards but he was stuck in this bar trying to make small talk with people he didn't even like. It was better than going home and being stuck near Jess. Being near her was gonna slowly eat away at his insides. He could already tell.

_Hey man, what time you get off work?_

_6:00_

_Cool, wanna play some pick-up?_

_Yeah, that sounds good. Where?_

_I'll just pick you up at the bar. C u then.__  
_

Nick opened a text to Jess. He could think of nothing to say though. There were no words to say how sorry he felt. He put his phone away and checked the clock, ticking off the minutes til he could meet up with Winston.

"Hey man, how's it going" as Nick climbed in the front seat.

"Good, good man, good to be back home."

"Yeah, we missed you dude. The loft was quiet without the two of you around."

Nick flinched at the mention of them together.

"So, how did it go?"

"It was cool, we saw Yellowstone and met some people in Portland. Your Uncle's cabin was awesome, just like the last time. It was good."

"Yeah, but how did it go?"

Nick knew what he meant. "Winston, I don't want to talk about this."

Winston didn't say anything as he drove a bit then quietly added "dude, you never do. You gotta figure something out. She is sad."

"I don't think I can."

Winston looked at his friend and saw his tired eyes and knew he hadn't slept last night. Maybe a little basketball would lighten his mood and help him see clearer.

Jess laid on her bed listening to the laundry in the bathroom. She stared out her window at the blue sky and bright sun. She hated LA sometimes with its perfect weather that made you always feel like you should be rollerblading. She had tried to watch movies all day on her computer but her attention span was a little muddled.

She got up and walked around her room looking at her suitcase that had exploded this morning as she started laundry. She simply didn't have the heart to put anything away. There were scraps of flannel all over the room because she didn't have time to clean-up after she had made Nick's quilt. She picked up a piece of it and rubbed her face on it remembering when he wrapped her in it when she got out of the tub at the cabin before he carried her to the bed. Her eyes flooded with tears again and she let them simply drop out without much effort. She didn't care who saw her or what people would do if she cried.

She heard a knock at the loft door and wondered if she wanted to answer it or not. The person kept knocking so she shuffled her way to the door and opened it.

Cece was there and stared at her for a second before she spoke.

"Hi sweetie."

"Hi" Jess said as she turned around and shuffled back into her room.

"Hey hon, I brought you some sprinkly donuts."

"Thanks, I'm not hungry."

"OK, I'll just put them in the kitchen."

Cece walked to the kitchen and wondered what had happened. The last she had heard from Jess, things were looking pretty good with Nick. Now she looked a mess with swollen eyes and the beginnings of dreadlocks.

Cece came back to Jess's room and found her laying in her bed curled up in a ball.

"Jess, what's going on? What happened?"

Jess started to cry again. Silently cry with no sobbing or anguish, just tears rolling down her face.

"Nick, well, Nick is what's wrong Cece. We're wrong. He wants me for sex and I want someone that wants to be with me."

"What did he say?"

"It's what he didn't say. He said our trip was cool like we had gone to Disneyland or something. I told him that it meant something to me. That it had meant a lot to me. Then we had this really weird sex that was kind of like desperate and in the end, he just left me there standing with my pants around my ankles feeling like a piece of meat."

Cece knew Nick could be cruel sometimes but he had never known him to be that kind of cruel with Jess. She hugged her friend while Jess dropped more tears on Cece's shoulder.

"Lets just go eat donuts and forget."

Jess knew Cece wasn't good with the emotional stuff in life. She appreciated her friend trying though. "OK, I can do that."

Winston and Nick had been playing basketball together since they were little kids. Nick never seemed to care that Winston was better than him because Nick never cared about much.

Tonight was another type of game though. Nick was aggressive and Winston had taken more than enough elbows for the evening. He stepped up his game pushing Nick back and began to slaughter Nick's Game. Pissing Nick off, he threw a water bottle off the court.

"What game are you playing tonight?"

"I don't know man, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come. I knew I would probably suck."

"Or maybe this is exactly what you needed. You obviously got some things to get out."

Nick sighed to himself and rubbed at his face. His beard was sweaty and his clothes were sticking to his body. He suddenly wanted a shower and a drink. He felt ridiculously tired.

"Lets get out of here man. I need a beer."

"Alright. I get it."

On the drive home Winston had wanted to say something to help Nick out but he knew that Nick had to battle this one out on his own. He had seen Jess and Nick dancing round their feelings for eachother for months now and something had happened on this roadtrip. They usually do.

Jess walked Cece to the door and hugged her friend good-bye.

"You're gonna be OK Jess. I promise."

"Thanks. I know I will be. I just really need a little time. It was kind of an amazing trip and an intense trip."

She opened the door right as Nick was grabbing for the door handle on the other side. They stood there face to face. Jess stared up at him suddenly speechless. Nick's mouth tightened when he saw her swollen eyes realizing she had been crying. He swallowed and walked right past her giving Cece a quick smile on the way by.

Winston stood awkwardly at the door watching Nick retreat to his room.

"Hey Jess, Cece. How you guys doing tonight?"

"Never been better Winston, never been better" Jess replied louder than needed.

Nick was drinking in the kitchen staring at his beer. He had waited until everyone had gone to bed To come out of his room. He wanted to be alone. He peeled the label slowly off his bottle and remembered when they were in Yellowstone near some bison grazing.

"Why are they called bison and buffalo" Jess said looking at a brochure of the animals in the park. "It is confusing."

They were on _their_ blanket eating some lunch. Jess had been yammering all morning about the stuff you could do in the park and Nick had been content to just listen. He was laying on his back occasionally rubbing his hand on her ankle. The sun was warm on his face and he could have fallen asleep. Jess had reached over and run her hand through his hair. He took in a deep breath and reached up to her hand, bringing it down to his mouth and kissing her wrist.

The memory made his chest tighten. He could still feel her soft skin on his lips and the faint smell of her soap.

He was startled by the shuffle of Jess's slippers on the floor behind him. He turned quickly to look at her worried she somehow could sense he was thinking of her.

"Hey" he said quietly.

She ignored him and got a glass of water, drinking it while looking directly over his head as if he wasn't even there.

"Jess, hey, how's it going?" He had to find a way to break the stalemate between him before it grew worse.

"Jess, you are acting stupid right now, come on, talk to me!" He could feel his blood begin to boil. "Damnit Jess, knock this off!"

"Oh hey Nick, didn't see you there" she lied.

"How's it going?"

"Great, peachy keen, wonderbar."

"Yeah, ok, whatever" he rolled his eyes at her.

"Oh, you didn't like that answer? OK, how about I'm cool Nick. I'm totally cool" she dragged out for emphasis. She defiantly met his eyes straight on.

"Great. glad to hear it" he said too loudly for that time of night. He returned her stare head on begging his eyes not to blink or show her how much he wanted to melt into her arms right now. He wanted to kiss her skin and carry her to his bed.

"Well now that we have established that we are both fantabulous, back to bed I go, ALONE."

He stood up quickly from his stool angrily and knocked his beer off the counter in the process. It shattered onto the floor.

"Smooth Miller, super smooth" Jess said as she turned and walked back to her room.

**I just wanted to stop for a moment after 20 chapters and say thank you to all of those that have written me about this story. I tried to incorporate a lot of the ideas you gave me regarding where they went on their trip. I especially appreciate those of you that have told me what works for you in this story so that I can focus on those attributes that appeal to you the reader. Thanks again. **


	21. Chapter 22

Jess felt a little skip in her step this morning as her room began to resemble its old self again. Gone was the sewing machine and suitcase. Gone were the clothes on the floor. She had spent the morning doing tons of laundry.

It had been a hard week for her. She threw herself into work staying late everyday. Nick hadn't been home much as she assumed he had late shifts every night. Now she had the whole weekend ahead of her and cleaning made her mind feel clearer.

The dryer buzzed it was done. She took the sheets and blankets out and walked back to her bed to make it up. She always loved clean sheets on her bed. They were the best.

As she separated out the sheets, she found _their_ blanket. She didn't know how it had gotten in her stuff but there it was. Her chest tightened at all of the memories surrounding that blanket. She swallowed down the sadness willing nothing to stop her happier mood today.

Turning towards Nick's room, she tapped on the door to give it back to him. She thought of leaving it on the floor but thought better of it. She had put a lot of time into it and leaving it on the floor might say something she didn't really mean to say.

She pushed on the door and was surprised to find he wasn't home. Her heart immediately skipped knowing he was probably with a woman. "Oh god" she said out loud. She hadn't thought that might be a possibility so soon.

She shook her head "no, he isn't gonna do this to me." She physically smiled remembering her Mom telling her that if you actually smile, you feel better. Why not try it right now.

She walked over to his bed and spread the blanket over it. She hadn't actually seen it in his room before and it warmed her a little bit to know he would be sleeping under it tonight. It looked good. The reds and greys looked masculine in a room that clearly belonged to a man.

His room was filled with light and in its normal disarray. Clothes were strewn around the room, wads of bills from tips, shoes thrown in the corner and beer bottles on the bedside tables. She walked around touching things like the photos on his walls, a painting and a jar of pencils on his desk.

Her eyes caught an abnormally organized pile of what looked like garbage on the corner of his desk. There she found a Pop Rock envelope, a dried red rose, a champagne bottle label, seashells and what looked like a shingle from the cabin. She sucked in her breath and rode a wave of sadness. Her eyes filled with tears that once again, she let silently fall down her face. Nick had saved these things Secretly, from their trip. She touched each one as if trying to absorb the memory.

Hanging on the back of his chair was the flannel she had worn that night in the cabin when the bear tried to break in. She remembered the next morning when they had woken up in each other's arms and he had touched her body everywhere. He had touched her or perhaps awakened her. Her skin burned at the memory and she could feel it flush with heat. She picked up the flannel and smelled it. It had Nick on it. Swallowing hard, she walked out of his room and swore to never return.

_Hey Jess, are you the one that didn't clean out the lint catcher in the dryer?_

_Ah, yes, Schmidt, that was probably me._

_I don't appreciate your polyester lint mixing in my cashmere. It is unsanitary._

_OK, Schmidt. May I make a suggestion? _

_Oh please, does it involve glitter signs with directions on how to use the dryer because that didn't work last time and it took forever to get the glitter out of my Ashton cardigan. _

_Schmidt, that wasn't my idea._

_What was it then?_

_I was thinking that maybe you could simply check the dryer before you put your clothes in it so they don't get ruined._

_Oh thanks Jess. Great advice. How did I, never ever think about. Whatevs._

On Wednesday Rick had found her during office hours hinting they should go out again. He bugged her in a weird way she couldn't put her finger on. She had been trying her hardest to not think of her bearded roommate hoping to stop the dehydrating tear fest she had been on all week, and he caught her off guard.

"Sure, we can go out again Rick."

"Great, how about Saturday night. Somewhere nice. We can have some cocktails before dinner. Get loosened up."

Grumpy roommate had rubbed off on her as her eyes were begging to roll at his douchebagy remark.

"OK, sure, we can do that."

Now it was Saturday afternoon and she needed to think about what she was wearing. Staring into her closet, she heard the guys come home from lunch. They were laughing it up about some "bozo" at the restaurant that came in with two hot blondes and then his credit card got denied when he bought them lunch.

"I am surprised he didn't call his wife to pay for it" said Winston.

"Yeah, his wife or his Mommy" piped in Nick.

"Jealousy is not a pretty color on you two. Given the opportunity, either one of you would do the same."

"No, I would not" said Nick.

"Yes you would man. Two hot betties on your arm, knowing you're getting double the pleasure after dinner. Come on Nick, you know you would dip your chip in that cheese sauce."

"Schmidt, that's disgusting. And no, I wouldn't. Not my style."

"Please, you have no style. Your style is going home with barflies you hope cannot remember what bar they met you at the next morning. I am assuming that is where you have been all week?"

"Shutup Schmidt. You have no idea what you are talking about." His tone had suddenly changed. Winston gave him a look of pity and Schmidt turned and headed into the kitchen knowing Nick could take no more teasing.

"Hey man, are we watching the game tonight?" Winston said to Nick hoping to change the subject.

"Yeah, that would be great."

Jess had listened from her room. Damnit, she had to stop this crying stuff before she permanently looked like an allergy sufferer. Nick was already sleeping with other women?

Schmidt answered the door when Rick knocked loudly. He was holding a bouquet of daisies as he walked in nodding to Nick and Winston sitting on the couch.

"Jess, your date is here" Schidt yelled through the loft.

Nick was looking at the guy at the door, nostrils flared, disgusted at his gelled hair and creased pants.

"Hey Rick" Schmidt said as he held out his hand. "Good to see you again man. I'm loving this button down, what thread count is that?"

"Ah, I don't know" Nick said dodging Schmidt's hand from flipping up his shirt collar to read it like he had last time.

"Hey Rick, I'm Jess's roommate. Come on in, take a seat."

Winston felt the air become suddenly tense at Nick's unnoticed snide invitation to Jess's date.

Rick put out his hand to Nick "Hi, I'm Rick".

"Yeah, I knew that cuz I just called you Rick."

Rick looked around nervous. He didn't understand why this guy was coming off so aggressively towards him.

"Ah yeah, what was your name, I didn't catch it."

"It's Nick, Rick. Haha, funny. Nick...Rick, get it."

"Yeah, I got it."

"Where you taking our girl tonight Rick. Somewhere special I presume? Gonna get her all liquored up and take advantage of her?" He winked at Rick with a big grin.

"Nick, stop" said Winston.

Schmidt whistled loudly as Jess entered the room "Holy cow woman, I didn't know you had that body under all those cardigans. I see you're taking the little ladies out for a drive tonight."

Nick looked at Jess realizing she was wearing the same dress from Chicago. The same dress that made him so crazy he grabbed her before their actual date attacking her lips in that hotel room. He looked down at the ground, fists tightening on his beer bottle. He couldn't meet her gaze. She would know. She knew him so well she would know she got him this round.

"Oh hi Jess, wow, you look really good" Rick said as he handed her the daisies.

"Thank you. I love daisies" she said as she walked to the kitchen for a vase.

She had seen Nick look at the ground. She had worn this dress specifically to get to him but now she just felt bad. It had obviously shaken him up a bit and she was starting to somehow lose her fight with him. She missed him so much. She didn't care if they would be just friends. The last thing she wanted to do right now was go on this date but she was bound and determined earlier in the week to get over him. For some reason though, now she wanted only to sit on the couch with the guys and watch a game. Game face Jess. Time for game face.

She turned back towards Rick "you ready to go"?

"Sure" said Rick as he opened the front door walking out without saying good-bye to anyone.

Jess grabbed her purse checking for her keys and phone and turned for one last look at Nick. He looked up at her, their eyes locking on one another and she attempted a small smile that he returned with his eyes softening a bit on the edges. She sucked in her breath and turned to walk out the door.

"Hey Jess" said Schmidt. "You have condoms?"

"Shutup Schmidt."

"I'm just saying Jess, you wear something like that out on a 3rd date, you're gonna need a condom."

"Shutup Schmidt" said Nick.

"What is with you guys. You don't practice safe sex. Come on guys, it's a new century!"

Nick heard the front door shut and he swallowed a swig of his beer. It was time to get rip roaring drunk.

_Hey where are you right now?_

_I am at Club DV8, why?_

_I am on this date and this guy is coming on really strong. I was hoping you could drop in for drinks with us and lighten the mood._

_Sure honey, I'm a little bit tipsy though. Where you at? I'll take a cab. I wasn't liking the DJ tonight anyway. I used to date him._

Cece and Jess walked into the loft with Rick. Jess was the only sober one and was feeling the fatigue after a night of keeping Rick's hands off her body. He was like a ferret moving so quickly to her ass or her waist. She needed to call him a cab to get him home before he killed someone attempting to drive home, which is what he insisted on doing at the restaurant.

Schmidt was in the kitchen when they came in and his face brightened when he saw a drunk Cece walk towards him with purpose.

"Schmidt, now."

"Yes my Cleopatra, I am here."

Cece took his hand and pulled him into his room leaving Jess and Rick alone in the loft.

"Hey Rick, how about I get you some water and some coffee? How about that?"

"I'd rather have something else, if you know what I mean?"

Ugh, so creepy he was.

She started making coffee and reached up for some mugs when she suddenly felt him leaning against her from behind.

"Rick, could you move away please?"

"I am ready Jess. I have been ready since the day I met you." She could feel his erection pushing up against her backside. Her senses immediately up on high alert.

"Rick, I am gonna say this once, back away from me right now. Back away."

He leaned over her body putting his sour breath near her neck and his hands resting on hers on the counter holding her there firmly.

"Hey, stop that, back up."

"Come on Jess, you know you want it. I know you picked that dress out just for me. You wanted to tease me all night, working me up into a lather until I grabbed you and treated you like the bad girl you are." He smacked her ass hard and she whimpered from the pain of it but also realized that she was in trouble. She could scream. Why couldn't she scream? Cece and Schmidt were not far away but she also knew that he could put his hand around her mouth at any minute.

He tightened his grip on her hands and turned her body around to face him. The look in his eyes were different than the drunk ones that lingered on her body all night. These eyes were intense, focused and very alert. Her bottom lip began to quiver and she concentrated on her breathing to stay calm.

"Rick" she said in the calmest voice she could. "You don't want to do this Rick. We work together. Come on, lets just have some coffee and sober up and you can take a cab home."

"No way Jess, I'm not leaving until I get to lick all that is under that dress."

She flinched at the idea and began to count to three preparing herself to scream as loud as she could. She moved her leg into position to knee his balls as hard as she could as well. For some reason, her body moved so slowly, she couldn't keep up with the events going on around her.

He surprised her when he quickly took both her hands behind her back holding them tightly, bruising her wrists while he untied her dress from the front. Jess became so scared she forgot to scream. She was terrified now. He pressed his lips on hers violently. "Rick, stop, no, stop Rick" which came out only in muffled tones through their mouths. She could taste the blood in her mouth and closed her eyes knowing what was gonna happen unless she screamed.

Then she heard it. She felt Rick's body get pulled away from her releasing her hands and heard the sound of him getting the wind knocked out of him. She opened her eyes and saw Nick land his fist on Rick's eye with a sound she was sure broke his hand. Rick flew backwards onto the ground, completely knocked out.

"Oh my god" she finally screamed. "Oh my god Nick".

Cece and Schmidt came running out of the room in only their underwear and Cece immediately ran to Jess wiping the blood off of her lip. Jess stood there staring at Nick with tears beginning to fill her eyes up again.

Nick stood there locked on Jess's face. He was breathing deeply pumped with adrenaline. His hand was quickly swelling and yet he didn't care. The anger running through his veins was volatile and he knew that if Jess looked away from him right now, he might just kill this guy.

"Schmidt, call the police" he calmly said.

"Of course" Schmidt for once not arguing as he took in the gravity of the situation.

Cece was washing Jess's face with a wet paper towell.

Winston had walked in behind Nick and was checking on Rick, making sure he was still breathing.

"Cece, the cops will be here, you should probably get dressed."

"You OK sweetheart" Cece asked Jess before she turned to get her clothes back on in Schmidt's room.

Still staring at Nick "yeah, I am Ok".

Winston chimed in "I think he is actually just asleep. He smells really drunk." He stood up and saw Nick and Jess staring at one another and decided to go downstairs and wait for the police.

As soon as Winston left, Nick closed the gap to Jess and enveloped her into his arms. He held her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and put her head in his neck while she muffled her sobs. She could feel his breathing deep and shaky. He touched her hair and kissed her cheek softly as they pulled apart.

He took her dress and tied it back together as the tears rolled off her face dripping onto his hands. She looked down and saw his swollen hand turning blue already.

"Oh god Nick, we need to get you to the hospital."


	22. Chapter 23

Jess was mixing the peanut butter frosting. She had just tried it and it was exceptionally good. Laid out in front of her were a dozen chocolate cupcakes that she now spread the frosting on. They were perfect.

She cleaned up the kitchen just the way Schmidt liked it. All the counters washed off, dishes put away and towels hanging symmetrically on the stove handle.

Changing into her pink dress she had already laid out on her bed, she smiled looking out the window at the blue sky. Today was a good day.

Nick was at the bar and filled the voids looking at a class schedule. It looked like it would take him about two more years of night classes to finish what he had started. That sounded like a long time and he wasn't sure he could pull it off and still pay all of his bills working at the bar. He had to do something though because he didn't want to be 50 and be serving martinis to women with fake boobs and men with slimey fingers.

Jess walked in right then and his face brightened at her gorgeous smile looking right at him. He put the school schedule under the counter so she couldn't see it.

"Hey good looking" said Nick as he beamed a smile towards the beautiful woman that walked in the bar.

"Hey back to you".

"What are you doing here today. Don't you have school?"

"No, it's a teacher prep day but, as usual, I was already prepped" she said with her hands drawing a checkmark in the air.

"Ahh, so like most teachers today, you have decided to come to a bar in the middle of the afternoon."

She smiled big at him "why yes, that was on my agenda for the day. Nicholas, it's your big day. I made you some _getting your cast off_ cupcakes."

He chuckled at how ridiculous that sounded and realized she was holding an actual box. She pushed it towards his surprised face.

"Jess, no way, you didn't."

"Of course I did silly. It's a big deal getting that thing off your arm."

He opened the tin and smelled the cupcakes. His mouth watered. He looked back at her amazed that anyone would think of him the way she thought of him.

The xrays showed his hand had healed fine after that night when he punched Rick. He washed it about ten times in the doctor's office trying to get the awful stench and dead skin off. It looked smaller than the other hand now and was much paler. It felt good though to go back to the way things were. Well, he hoped they wouldn't be exactly the way things were. He only knew that things were good with Jess. They were friends again but maybe with the promise of something more, he hoped.

The time after that night at the loft had been wrought with anguish and tension. Nick was so angry and worried about Jess that he almost couldn't function. He would spend his evenings watching her sleep and his days avoiding everything that mattered.

He woke up most nights remembering the sound of her muffled voice whimpering "No, stop, no." He remembered the site he saw when he came roaring around the corner of the kitchen and saw Jess pinned up against the counter, her dress ripped open in front and blood trickling down her chin as that animal held her arms behind her in an awkward painful position. He didn't remember a thing after that until they asked him what color cast he wanted at the hospital.

Winston was the one that found him in his room one night sitting on the floor.

"Hey man, how's it going?"

"It's going."

"I don't think it's going very well Nick. You look dog tired and I am pretty sure you haven't eaten anything for awhile."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"I'm am right Nick, I am right. You have to let this thing go. It's over, she's gonna be fine."

"Winston, I should have been there for her."

"Dude, you were. I saw you. You laid that guy down."

"No, I should never have let her go so easily. She should never have been with him to begin with. I saw what a slime ball he was and I didn't do anything about it."

"Nick, this isn't your fault. Life happens and you move on the best you can."

He knew Winston was right but he felt paralyzed. He knew he was in over his head but he didn't know what to do about it. Part of him wanted to move back to Chicago to runaway from the agony he felt over Jess. Another part of him wanted to lock her up without a key so nobody could hurt her.

He found the counselor's card in Jess's laundry. Jess had been telling him about meeting with Elise twice a week and something in him decided to call this woman. They had been meeting a lot in the last few weeks. Jess didn't know. Nobody knew. Elise was the one breaking through to Nick to start living again. Now he was just trying everyday to find a few kernels of happy thoughts in hopes of it spreading to the rest of him. Today it was seeing Jess show up at the bar in that pink dress with a smile on her face. That is all he really needed.

Jess sat at home reading her book in the living room listening to Winston argue with his mother on the phone.

"Yeah Mom, I know you need me there but I am not a handyman. You need to hire someone to do those things because I obviously don't live in Chicago."

"Yes, I know you don't know anyone but I am not gonna fly home just to change a lightbulb."

Jess walked back to her room to find her phone. She knew Cece would be asking what she was doing this weekend and she hoped to maybe have a text from a certain bartender she knew.

_It's off. The damn thing is off. No more showers with plastic bags._

_Yeah. Finally._

_Hey those cupcakes were fantastic, like I ate four of them fantastic._

_Thanks Nick. I was hoping you would like them._

_I did. Thank you. I am gonna stop at the store and grab some beers for tonight. You want anything?_

_No, I'm good. See you in a bit._

She took a moment to hug herself. Taking her journal next to her bed she wrote "today is a very good day."

She started the journal the day after Rick had attacked her. The police had put her in contact with a counselor to meet and discuss what happened. At first she didn't want to go because it wasn't as if Rick had succeeded but Nick had pushed her to talk to someone anyway.

The counselor was a tough very very short woman. They met six times over the three weeks following "that night". At first Jess didn't know what to say but eventually Elise got her to admit that it had shook Jess to the core. Nick arriving when he did had probably been the only thing that saved her and that realization sent her into a panic that slowly went away with Elise's help.

After every counseling, Jess would come home feeling drained.

Nick started leaving her little things on her bedside table. At first it was just a cookie from her favorite bakery. But then it was a flower and another time a little pile of only the pink Starburst. It always brought a smile to her face and warmed her insides knowing that he knew, this was hard.

Elise was firm in her guidance. She had her start her journal and talk about what she felt for both Rick and Nick in there. Elise new Jess was crazy for Nick but there were some blurred lines between the two men. Did he make her feel scared when she was around him. Had their time together been a positive force in her life or a negative? Did she trust him. The writing helped her not confuse the two men. Nick was everything to run towards. It was time to embrace life and today was a good day.

They sat on the roof drinking beers. The four of them talking about being younger and how stupid hipsters were with their traingle tattoos and bikes without brakes. Nick sat next to her and occasionally would reach over to her neck and rub it absently as if all the roommates did that with her. She would look over at him and his eyes would stare so deeply into hers that she would have to look away just to breathe.

Eventually Schmidt and Winston went to bed. They shook Nick's hand congratulating him on six weeks of wearing a green cast like an eight year old boy that fell out of the tree. They hugged Jess good night, a tradition that started after that night. Nick and Jess weren't the only ones shaken up from the experience. All the loftmates had had to take a moment to realize what had happened and that they were a family who took care of one another.

Nick sat back down next to Jess and held her hand while they silently drank their beers. Jess felt so content and safe next to Nick. She was happy if this is what they could only be.

"Jess, I'm glad the cast is gone. I didn't like that it was a reminder to you of what had happened."

"I know Nick. You said that many times but I never thought of it that way. To me the cast was a reminder of what people would do for me."

He looked at the ground and took a deep breath. "Jess, do you think you have moved on past that night?"

"You know, I was just thinking about that today. I think I have. I don't feel scared anymore and everyday just seems normal again."

"Good, I'm glad. I'm also glad he lost his job and moved back to Kansas."

"Yeah, me too."

They both looked up at the night sky. Barely any stars, both of them breathed in deeply thinking about how good it felt to just sit together, under the stars.

"Jess, there is something I have been wanting to ask you but I just didn't know how after what happened."

She turned to look at his very serious face. They had had a lot of moments together in the last six weeks. Moments where he held her while she cried and moments where he sensed her gloom and simply listened.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"I was wondering, when you're ready I mean, and only if you feel comfortable with it, if I could take you on a date."

Her face cracked into a smile that was like sunflowers and cotton candy. She couldn't hide any of it. "Of course Nick" she said a little too quickly. She swallowed and calmed her voice down a bit. "Yes, Nick, I would really like that."

"Good, good. Whenever you are ready, just let me know."

"Well, I think I could be ready Saturday night if you're not working."

His heart swelled a bit realizing this was gonna happen. "Yeah, Saturday night, for sure."

**Your reviews have been stellar and so positive! I cannot thank all of you enough for following along. Over 100 reviews and 30,000 views. I am humbled.**

**3 more chapters to go...looks like the finale will post Wednesday morning PST!**


	23. Chapter 24

_I was wondering what you thought if we had a group date?_

_What do you mean, like with other couples? Yeah, that sounds good._

_OK, I was gonna ask Winston and Schmidt to come along. I have a plan._

_Sounds good. Casual or dressy?_

_Casual I guess. _

Nick had a plan which is more than he had for a long time. It felt good to be making plans. It felt good to be doing anything with Jess really. He liked where they were at right now. He wouldn't admit this to anyone but he felt...full of hope.

_Hey, do you think you can get a date on Saturday night and go bowling with Jess, Schmidt and Cece?_

_Ugh, sure. I can try. There is this girl in my office that we have been having this little eye thing going on. I'll let you know. Bowling Nick? Really, you?_

_Yeah, I thought it would be fun._

_OK. Who are you these days man?_

_Funny Winston._

"Hey Schmidt, how about you and Cece go bowling with Jess and I plus Winston and his date on Saturday night?"

"Like a triple date?"

"Sure, call it whatever you want."

"Are you dating Jess now?"

Nick smiled to himself. "I hope so Schmidt."

"Well then I would love to come along and watch you two awkwardly dance the new date dance."

"Alright man. Good."

Schmidt saw the happiness in Nick's eyes and wondered if he had ever seen him so sparkly before. He was kinda glowing and he had noticed he wasn't drinking as much either the last few weeks. He hated the idea of Nick and Jess dating and then crashing into a million pieces but for right now, he would take a happier Nick anyday.

_I am gonna get ready at Cece's. Can you guys pick us up over here?_

_Sure doll. See you at 7:00._

_Nick?_

_Yeah._

_3rd date._

_Yeah, that wasn't lost on me. 3rd date._

_:)_

Jess hung at Cece's all day avoiding seeing Nick. She kinda wanted it to really feel like a date with a regular guy, not her loftmate she had already slept with. Cece and her were going through her closet looking for something for Jess to wear. They had already decided on Cece's clothes of skin tight jeans, black heels and a low cut tankini type shirt. Jess being Jess was not wearing black which meant she could only find three or four things in Cece's closet to even wear.

She found some white stretch pants and a red halter shirt. Cece saw them together and whistled out loud. "Hey, I have the perfect shoes for that" and brought out what looked literally like shoes from a video game. Jess tried to put them on with all their roman straps and buckles and could suddenly see the top of the dresser mirror and was afraid an airplane would hit her.

"Ah no, I cannot wear these. I will fall and crack my head."

"Jess, you look great though. Seriously, check yourself in the mirror. I mean, what the hell Jess, you have such an awesome body."

"Really, I always think my butt is big."

"It is, but in just the right way. Like the way guys like."

"Cece, I don't know if I can do this. Look at me, I can barely walk across the room and I feel like I might hurt a small child or pigeon on my way down."

"You're gonna be great. Trust me."

Nick and Schmidt arrived at Cece's apartment and Nick was a nervous wreck. He hadn't spoken the whole way over and Schmidt had babbled filling the space. Nick had heard all about Schmidt's co-worker that wore perfume that smelled like tuna and lysol stuffed into a pita bread smothered with tahnini sauce. He had somewhat listened to him ramble about the guy at Segal's that wouldn't search harder for a size medium sweater in the most perfect canary yellow he had ever seen.

Nick was happy for the distraction but now that they were walking up to the door, he started rubbing his face wondering if he should have shaved off his beard first or maybe wore a different shirt.

"Nick Miller, what is your problem. You are fidgeting like a small bird waiting for a worm."

"Yeah, sorry, I uh, well, I'm kinda nervous."

"What are you nervous about" Schmidt asked dumbfounded.

"Jess, I am nervous I am gonna mess this up with Jess."

Sometimes Schmidt was a douche and he knew that about himself. He could be so ridiculously self centered. But he was loyal and this was his brother, his compadre, his life companion minus the sex. This was his bro needing some good brotherly advice.

"I don't think you are going to Nick. Not this time. It feels different. You seem different. Just be yourself because she knows you better than anyone and she likes you, the way you are."

Nick looked at Schmidt for the first time that evening. "Thanks man."

"No problem Nick." He was glad he could solve all of Nick's problems with a few kind words. He was so amazing at understanding women he didn't know why he didn't open up a business giving advice.

Cece opened the door letting the boys into her apartment.

"Cece, looking hot as expected" Schmidt said as he kissed her cheek.

Jess walked meekly into the room feeling suddenly ridiculously vulnerable. She took a deep breath and raised her shoulders up like Cece had taught her.

Nick saw Jess across the room and his mouth instantly dried and he almost turned around and ran out of the apartment. The pause was too long, awkward, as everyone waited for Nick to say something.

Schmidt slapped Nick's back hard "well, well, well Jess, don't you look, well, I don't know. How does she look Nick?"

Nick's eyes locked on hers.

She relaxed slightly but still wished she had a cardigan to hide behind. Nick walked over to her and stopped just short. He looked at her lips and wondered how he was gonna get through this night without messing it all up.

"Hi" he whispered to her. "You look ... Beautiful."

"Hi Nick" she whispered back. "Thanks."

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I think I am."

Nick took Jess's hand and they headed to the door with Cece and Schmidt trailing behind them smiling towards Nick and Jess.

Winston's date was a tough firecracker of a woman smaller than Jess but with a mouth on her like a truck driver. Within minutes she was telling jokes that made Jess blush just a bit. She didn't mind though as tonight, she was feeling kind of shy.

Nick had held her hand the whole drive over in the car and had his hand on her neck when they walked into the bowling alley. She liked that he did that. It reminded her of Chicago when they went out to dinner. He had touched her all night and it made her feel sexy somehow and taken care of. It somehow relaxed her knowing he was there.

They were in the third game of boys vs. girls and it was neck in neck. Jess was thrilled to change out of her shoes and into bowling shoes feeling much better walking in general. She was killing it this game and the girls were pumped to kick the boys' butts. They had already decided whoever lost had to pay for milkshakes afterwards.

Jess was up and she hit a strike screaming and jumping up and down with excitement. The girls gave her high fives and she took a stroll in front of the boys winking to rub it in. Nick was laughing at how cute she was and grabbed her as she went by, pulling her onto his lap. He couldn't resist touching her tonight. She had so much skin exposed and she looked so beautiful in red.

"Hey" she fiended protest as he pulled her down onto his legs.

"Who knew you were such an ace at bowling Jessica Day?"

"I am full of secrets."

"Really?"

"No, not really. Actually I am kind of the opposite" she said making an awkward face for emphasis.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his body. She smiled into his eyes putting her arm around his neck.

He moved his mouth up to her ear whispering "I know some secrets about you Jessica."

She blushed deeply the color of her shirt and tried to look away.

He took her chin and moved it back to him and leaned up to kiss her gently on the lips. Nick Miller didn't care who saw him right now. He wanted to kiss Jessica Day and he couldn't wait any longer.


	24. Chapter 25

They all walked down the street to the diner joking and laughing like they were in college. Jess was riding on Nick's back since her shoes made it impossible for her to keep up with everyone else. Her arms wrapped around his neck he would occasionally turn his head to get a glimpse of her face.

He had noticed the little glances amongst his friends towards Jess and himself but tonight it didn't make him feel weird or awkward. He felt pretty good.

Jess ordered a strawberry milkshake looking at Nick waiting to see what he would get. He looked lost staring at the menu.

"Why would there be so many options? There are like 50 different flavors."

"So pick one" she said giggling at his complaint.

"How can I? It is ridiculous. The human eye cannot possibly take all of this in. There should be some regulations against menus having too many options."

"Boo" said Schmidt.

"Down with you" said Winston.

Winston's date threw a balled up napkin at him and Jess squeezed his leg under the table giggling. "So grumpy" she whispered as she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

He smiled deeply chuckling at himself. "Fine you crazy bastards, I will get a chocolate chip milkshake!"

Schmidt and Cece dropped them off at the loft since they were heading back to her place. Winston and his date had been hitting it off all night and it seemed fairly clear he was not coming home tonight.

Jess and Nick held hands on the way up the elevator, both of them shyly glancing over at one another.

Nick opened the door and Jess put down her purse on the table.

"Jess" Nick said quietly.

She turned towards him and saw his hands jammed in his pockets, nervously sucking in his bottom lip in front of the closed front door.

He closed his eyes and looked down at the ground. He had practiced this with Elise. He could do this. There was no reason to be scared. She cared for him. He saw it in her eyes. He sucked in a breath and looked up at her.

"I love you Jess. I want you to know that no matter what stupid stuff I do, that deep down, I just love you."

Jess felt the tears flood her eyes and her heart swelled with emotions. She knew she couldn't speak because sobs were about to take over her body. She turned to a statue and simply breathed through the silence in the loft swallowing down the tears as they made their way to the surface. Finally she calmed enough to move.

She took big strides over to him throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek and eyes and ears and lips. Her tears spilling over as he wrapped his arms around her body tightly.

When she could finally speak she blubbered out between sobs "I love you too Nick. I've known it for so long but was so scared to say it. Scared you would cut me off or run away."

"I am not going anywhere." And he meant it.

They stopped moving and simply hugged each other in the dark loft, holding on as tight as they could. Finally, they had gotten where they wanted to be. Things had changed and it would never be the same between them.

She took a deep breath and slowly pulled away from his warm body. Taking his hands from her hips into her own, she walked backwards towards her room, pulling him with her, not breaking eye contact.

Her heart began to beat faster as she neared her bed. She pulled him to the center of the room and stopped, trying to figure out what to do next. Suddenly nervous and awkward.

Nick reached around her putting his hand on her upper back and leaned into her lips. She felt the softness of his touch and the want in his perusal of her mouth. She opened for his tongue as his other hand reached around pulling her in tightly to his chest.

She pulled away from him slowly breaking their embrace until she was standing in front of him breathing heavily. They both were.

She swallowed deeply and then reached up to undo the tie around her neck that kept her shirt on. In moments it was off and she was standing half naked in front of Nick.

He didn't break his eye contact with her as he reached down and began unbuttoning his shirt and dropping it to the floor.

She slowly scooted her pants off as he followed unbuttoning his own. Backing up towards her bed, she laid down on her cover as he climbed over her. He held himself up for a moment and took the sight of her in. Her hair spread around her pillow. Her blue eyes, soft, her pointy chin, her pink swollen lips. "You are so beautiful."

She put her hand on his neck and pulled him towards her mouth. She was hungry for him. Moaning as he kissed her, her legs straddled around his body. He began to kiss her neck, her ear, her shoulder. His hand on her cheek he would return to her mouth pushing his body against hers more.

She reached down and took off her underwear and then pushed at his flicking them off his legs with her own foot. Her arms returning to his neck she squeezed him tight as she pushed her tongue into his mouth putting everything she felt into that kiss. Tears snuck out of her eyes rolling into her hair.

Nick felt her soft body under him and wanted to spend all night touching her skin. The moans she would make when he kissed her neck made him want to consume her, own her, hold her.

Their bodies began to sway together and their kissing became more frantic. He moved his hips down a bit lower and his erection pushed slightly on her opening. She whimpered and widened her legs giving him better entrance. He pushed into her slowly as he bit her neck. She took a giant breath and held it as he pushed all the way in.

He pulled his face away from her then and locked eyes. He rubbed his thumb on her cheek and kissed her chin. "I love you Jess" he whispered again.

"I know Nick. I know you do" as she leaned up to kiss him.

**I was trying to show a much gentler side..please review if I pulled it off cuz I am not good at that part but would like to get better at it. I could use the practice.**


	25. Chapter 26

Nick had woken up early before the room had lit up and quietly slipped out. It was cool outside and the air fresh from dew and cut grass.

The town was only just waking up. He envisioned early morning coffee makers percolating while families dressed their kids for school. The main road had empty parking spaces waiting to be filled by employees and shoppers. The buildings were mainly brick with storefronts showing bolts of materials or local crafts. He saw a few stragglers from a local bar sleeping it off in a door front wondering what woes they were hiding from.

He could smell the bakery approaching and saw a woman walk in the screened door that slammed behind her. Turning in for some coffee himself, he overheard small talk between obvious regular customers.

"Hi there" he said when it was his turn. Can I get six pink sprinkly donuts and a large black coffee?"

"Sure thing hon" the red haired plump woman said smiling at him. She bagged the donuts up and he handed her a twenty.

The coffee was strong and bitter but felt good after such a long day yesterday. He only hoped he could succeed this morning with his one true task.

He stopped on the street corner trying to remember details. Feeling confident, he turned to the right and continued on the sidewalk.

Then he saw it. There it was. He felt relief flood over him. Breathing deeply he continued walking with a fuller chest smiling to himself at how good it felt to be alive today.

He opened the door to his room and there she was, sitting on the bed wrapped in the star quilt looking at a book. She looked up at him smiling and he put his finger over his mouth to signal her to be quiet.

"Where have you been" she whispered?

He sat on the edge of the bed next to her. "I went for a walk. Here, I got these for you" he said as he handed her the bag of pink sprinkly donuts.

"I also got you this" and he pulled out of his pocket a perfect rosebud that was white with blue tinges. "This is called a Blue Beauty sweetheart."

She smiled and took it in her hands. She leaned down and smelled it.

"But that's what you always call Mommy. Blue Beauty."

He looked over at his wife, pretending to be asleep under the covers. Her soft pink lips upturned into a tiny smile. Her long eyelashes fluttering as she softly swallowed staying quiet. His eyes looked down her body to her large tummy he could see through the blankets. His son growing inside, getting stronger everyday.

He leaned over to his daughter kissing her on the forehead. "That's right sweet pea, that's what I call Mommy."

He took a donut out of the bag and they both sat and ate them looking down at her picture book. He breathed a sigh of contentment glancing again at his family and counted his lucky stars...One, two, three.

By _mayalala_

The End

**Thank you my kind friends that have followed along with such a long read. There is a lot of my own life in this story so it's kinda funny that only strangers will ever read it. **

**Special thanks to Lena Guffi, Newgirl78, imeantsomethinglikethat (both) and allaboutnewgirl for being the most supportive strangers! **

**I would also like to **announce** that coming soon will be "Before The Open Road" a prequal story. Hope you like it!**


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